Forget Berlin
by lastnameleft
Summary: If they know where to find each other and they know they can't survive apart, why aren't they together? Dom searches for Letty in Berlin, but she doesn't want to be found. post-Fast Five, Dotty.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but it would be sweet if I did.

For clarity: Vince & Dom were 39 during Fast Five, so Mia will be 35 and Letty will be 34.

_Los Angeles, 1989_

_When Grace Toretto died the state said that a widower with two teenagers and two struggling businesses was not considered a desirable foster home, so the three kids living with them at the time were sent to other families. Letty was 12 when she went from sharing a room with Mia, living in the only foster home that had ever treated her like more than a paycheque, to a group home on the other side of the city. After the group home was one foster home after another – she never lasted more than six months before she got kicked out or had to do a stint in juvie. The day she turned sixteen she packed everything she owned into a single backpack and crawled out her window before the three girls she shared the tiny room with woke up. Her foster mom didn't notice she was gone until, for the first time in the 4 months she was there, someone called the house looking for her._

Berlin, present

Han and Giselle ducked into the first pub they came to on the dark, narrow street. They were soaked but happy, laughing and kissing as they bumped into a table and knocked over a glass.

"Watch the fuck out," hissed the table's only occupant, a tiny woman in dark clothes and a baseball cap pulled low over her face, as she shoved the table into them.

"Sorry, sorry, my girl has had way too much to drink," Han laughed good naturedly as the table caught him in the hip. "I'll buy you another drink," he said, the last word trailing into shocked silence as he locked eyes with Letty.

Letty's blood ran cold as a flicker of recognition flashed across her face. Without a word she slammed all 130 lbs of her into the table, catching Han & Giselle off guard and knocking them to the ground. Before either of them could react she had left money on the table and slid out the door. She ran through an alley until she couldn't breathe, finally slumping over in a dark doorway and sobbing until the first glimmer of the sunrise peeked over the building in front of her.

_Los Angeles, 1993_

_Mia slammed down the phone angrily. The woman on the phone took a solid minute just to figure out who Leticia Ortiz was. What the hell kind of place was Letty in? _

_It had taken months of listening to rumors about fights and stolen cars for Mia to finally track Letty down. The social worker from Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall had given Mia the phone number of Letty's new home when Mia showed up to visit her a month after her release. She was lucky that she and Letty had enough similar features to pass herself off as Letty's older sister, Marcela. _

_Letty had been in juvie for stealing a car. She just needed to get away from that foster home, that man. If she stole a car she would leave town or go to juvie – either way, her sick fuck of a foster dad wouldn't be able to touch her again. It was when they sent her back to the same home after she was released that she knew she needed to get out permanently. She waited until she was sixteen so that she could drop out of school the same day – as long as she wasn't registered anywhere that people would look for her she was in the clear._

_The first place she went was back to the neighbourhood she grew up in. She sat across the street watching someone else's kids play in the front yard of the house she lived in until she was eight. It was the house she had lived in when she first met Mia and Dominic, the house where her father had killed her mother and the police had killed him. She smiled sadly when the kids waved to her, pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head, and hurried down the street._

South Pacific, present

Dominic Toretto woke up to the sound of his cell beeping. His head pounded as he felt around for the phone – when his fingers clasped around it on the hard tile he realized he was on the bathroom floor. Again.

"What," he grumbled into the phone, not bothering to check the caller ID and not noticing the 23 missed calls in the past four hours.

"Dom, buddy, it's Han. I need you to wake up and listen to me," was all he heard before a wave of nausea hit him.

Han grimaced as he listened to his friend throw up for a couple of minutes. When Dom picked up the phone again he was breathing heavily, but grunted that he was listening.

"Giselle and I are in Berlin," Han started nervously, realizing as he tried to find the words that he had never actually brought someone back from the dead before, "and so is Letty."

Dom stared, unfocused, ahead of him. He knew he had heard Han wrong, he just couldn't figure out what Han had actually said.

"Are you listening to me? Dom, she's here. She's not dead. She wore at me and knocked me on my ass. It was her."

_Los Angeles, 1993_

_It had been three months since Mia had called the only number she had for Letty. She watched everyone who went past the restaurant, hoping to recognize one of them, but she was slowly starting to give up. Her father and brother had no idea how hard she had been looking for Letty. They had both been sad when she was taken away but she wasn't their best friend, she was Mia's. And all of the kids in and out of the house, all of the work convincing social services to let Letty stay with them instead of going to a foster home in a different neighbourhood where she didn't know anyone, that was all Mrs. Toretto._

_Mia sighed as she threw the phone number in the trash. Those awful people had started hanging up as soon as they heard her voice on the phone. Obviously she wasn't going to find Letty with their help. Mia wiped the counter as the door to the café opened._

"_Letty!" Mia screamed, climbing over the counter and tackling her friend, "I've been looking for you for months and you just walk in here! Where the hell have you been?_

Berlin, present

Dom walked down the steps of his chartered plane and let out an 'oof' as Giselle launched herself at him. He felt his arms encircle her in a loose hug back but beyond that he was numb.

A few hours earlier

"Go get her, Dom," Elena told him softly, with a sad smile on her face, "if my husband came back from the dead I'm not sure I'd wait long enough to tell you I was leaving before I was gone. I'm sad and more than a little envious, but I'm not going to get in your way."

Dom just nodded, silently thankful for her understanding, as he threw clothes into a duffle bag.

"I'll be gone when you get back. Just don't let her go again."

Dom kissed her on the forehead before rushing out the door and taking off towards the airstrip in his Challenger SRT8.

Han, Giselle and Dom were silent as Han drove to their hotel. They had so little to go on that none of them knew how to start looking for her.

"Take me to the pub instead, Han," Dom said quietly, the first thing he had said since they picked him up at the private airfield.

Han nodded as he changed lanes.

_Los Angeles, 1993_

_Letty was near giddy as she and Mia walked into DT's. She smiled when she saw the sign – Anthony Toretto had always promised his son that the shop would be named DT's as soon as Dominic turned 21 and became an equal partner with his father. _

_Her breath caught in her throat as Dominic Toretto rolled out from under the car beside her. He wasn't 17 anymore – he was a grown man, all muscles and shaggy hair._


	2. Chapter 2

_Los Angeles, 1993_

_Dominic's eyes widened as he looked up at Letty. It took a minute for him to see the gawky, irritating 12-year-old who used to hang out in the garage all day inside of the knockout that smirked down at him. But as soon as she laughed at his speechlessness he knew it was her – she'd had the same laugh since she was a little kid. He'd never forget that laugh._

"_What's up, sucker?" she said, kicking him lightly in the side, "miss me?"_

"_Jesus, Letty. You grew up," he managed to croak out before Vince and his father appeared to welcome her back and saved him from looking like a complete idiot._

_It was a matter of minutes before it was agreed that Letty would move back into Mia's room since Vince had been in the spare bedroom since his mom got sick. She couldn't register at school without being sent back to foster care but she was happier taking a job at the garage anyways. Anthony Toretto was more like his wife than he cared to admit – he couldn't resist a stray._

Berlin, present

"Does he think she's going to be sitting in there, waiting for him to come back?" Han asked Giselle as they watched him walk into the pub from their car.

"You told him how she reacted when she recognized you," she said, absentmindedly rubbing the bruises on her side that Letty's quick exit had caused, "he's not stupid enough to think that reaction meant she was planning on being found. But it's the last place he knows she was – he's clutching at whatever little bit of her he can get."

Han sighed and nodded. They watched the pub until two women burst through the doors and hurried down the street, followed by a small group of teenaged tourists.

"Shit, I think that's my cue," Han said, jumping out of the car and running towards the pub."

_Los Angeles, 1993_

_Mia's 17__th__ birthday party was huge. Anthony was at a race in New Mexico and, as long as the house was cleaned up by the time he got home, he could never say no to his little girl. Mia invited pretty much everyone she had ever met and because any party was an excuse to get drunk, Dom's friends were all there too. _

_Dom, Vince, Leon and Jesse had been drinking in the backyard most of the day. Leon and Jesse were Anthony's newest strays – they had crashed there after a party and he put them to work in the garage the next day when he was short staffed. After that they never left. Neither of them mentioned where they had been before they got there, they were just happy to have couches in the basement to sleep on and work to do every day. _

_The four of them were halfway to drunk when their friends and Mia's started showing up. Dom could feel someone staring at him and grimaced when he looked up and met her eyes: Jessica Tran. He really had meant to break up with the crazy bitch but she was that special brand of crazy that could terrify even the most confident guy into sticking around. So that she didn't stab him in the throat._

"_Fuck. Guys, I gotta go inside. Or go die. A or B really," he muttered so that only his friends could hear and then ducked out of sight, going around the house and back in through the front door. He walked into the house and there she was, the reason he couldn't sleep at night. _

_Letty stood at the top of the stairs in a tiny red dress and bare feet. Dom's breath caught in his throat as he watched her readjust the hem a couple of times, obviously uncomfortable. There was always a fight when Mia tried to play dress up with Letty but obviously this time Letty hadn't won. _

_By the time Letty reached the bottom of the stairs she was aware of the eyes of everyone in the living room on her. She was getting more uncomfortable by the second until the realized she had Dom's attention too._

"_Okay, Mia, maybe not your worst plan ever," she muttered under her breath. She cringed when she realized she was happy that he was seeing a whole new side of her. He had a crazy girlfriend and slept ten feet away from her. Her crush on him was a terrible idea in every way, and she knew it._

Berlin, present

"She's been here. I know she's fucking been here," Dominic yelled, an inch away from the face of the man he had backed against a wall, "look at the picture again."

Han watched Dom for a few seconds before interrupting, drawing tentative sighs of relief from the two waitresses cowering behind the bar.

"Dom! Calm the fuck down," he yelled, uncharacteristically raising his voice. "They're not going to tell you shit if you act like this. They just work here, what do you think you're going to scare out of them?"

Dom dropped his hands to his sides and lowered his head.

"You were here when I was, a couple of days ago," Han continued, this time speaking to the younger of the two waitresses. "My girlfriend got pretty banged up when a table got knocked into her, remember?"

The waitress nodded, her eyes flitting between Han's calm smile and Dom's clenched fists.

"The girl who left right after, the one dressed in black. She's his girlfriend, she went missing a long time ago. Has she been here before?" Han asked the waitress.

"Yeah, a few times," she said softly, avoiding making eye contact when Dom's head jerked towards her. "She always sits in that corner, doesn't talk to anyone. Bitches that she can't get a Corona and then orders a Guinness. Always thought it was weird, she can't get one so she orders the exact opposite."

"Anything else?" Han prodded gently, "does she come here with anyone else? Has she been here since she saw me?"

"It's just her, it's been just her for a couple of weeks. And she hasn't been back since," she said, shaking her head. Then she turned to Dom "I'm sorry your girlfriend's gone. I'm sorry I can't help. She has one drink, she pays cash, she leaves. Half the time she leaves her beer mostly full on the table when she goes."

Dom nodded as Han started to guide him towards the door.

"She's not happy. I promise you, there's nothing happy about that woman," the waitress said as they turned towards the door.

_Los Angeles, 1993_

_Dom and Letty ignored each other for most of the party. Neither of them was really sure if they were doing it intentionally. It was just easier than trying to talk. They had been awkward around each other since she got back and that was just in the garage and at the dinner table. At a party full of people watching, while she drank so she would stop readjusting her miniature dress and he drank so he didn't spend the whole time staring at her. _

_Around 3 am Jessica pulled Dom into the garage for the fourth time that night. Unfortunately, just like every time before, it was to yell at him where no one could see so that in front of people they were still a perfect couple._

"_Why don't you fucking care that I made out with James!" she screamed at him, still barely audible above the music coming from inside the house._

"_We've been dating for three weeks. How do you expect me to be heartbroken about this? Aren't you supposed to be happy that I don't give a shit?" he said calmly, rolling his eyes._

"_You don't care about me at all!" she screamed, getting in his face. _

_Dom shrugged, turned around, and walked out of the garage. _

_He wandered around his packed house for a few minutes until he found what he was looking for. _

_Letty had given up on her dress and changed back into jeans and a tank top. Most of the makeup Mia had put on her was gone too, but her hair was still curled softly around her face. She sat on the couch drinking a beer and half listening to a conversation Leon and Vince were having. _

_Dom took her hand, wordlessly pulling her to her feet and away from the crowd. He didn't let go until they were on outside, on the side of the house. _

"_Dom, what the hell are you doing?" she whispered loudly._

"_Letty? For once in your life, shut up," he said as he leaned down, crushing his lips against hers._

Berlin, present

Letty leaned her head against Leon's chest as they watched the entrance to the pub from a hotel room across the street. She fought tears as she watched the door, waiting for Dom to come out again.

"It's okay, baby, it's all going to be okay," Leon said softly, wrapping his arms around her.


	3. Chapter 3

_Los Angeles, 1993_

_Letty sighed into Dom's kiss, snaking her arms around his neck. She had wondered what it would feel like to kiss him since the fourth grade, when she and Mia had walked in on him and Trina Wilson. As he pushed his tongue past her teeth she couldn't remember what she had thought it would be like, but it wasn't this. Her legs nearly gave out as he flattened her between his chest and the wall, sliding his hands under her shirt to run them down her sides._

"_What. The. Fuck." were the words finally pulled them apart. Jessica Tran stood a few feet away with her hands on her hips, wobbling slightly. "This is humiliating, Dominic Toretto, fucking humiliating! People can see you, they know we're together! I have never been so humiliated in my fucking life!" she screeched, bursting into drunken tears before turning on her heel and letting another girl lead her towards a car._

_Dom rolled his eyes and leaned his forehead against Letty's. _

"_I think she was humiliated," Letty whispered with a smirk._

Berlin, present

Dom paced the length of the hotel room, muttering to himself under his breath.

"Fuck, Dom, stop!" Giselle yelled as she walked out of the bedroom. "You're covering the floor in blood, what the hell?"

Dom looked down. Sure enough, the tile was spattered with blood. The knuckles on his right hand were covered in cuts and two of them were obviously broken.

Giselle grabbed a towel from the counter of the small kitchen and tossed it to him.

"Wrap your hand up. And stop breaking shit," she said sternly before using a second towel to clean up as much of his blood as she could. When the tile was tinted pink, but no longer wet, she used the towel to sweep some of the broken glass on the floor into a corner. The television had a gaping hole the size of his fist and there were two broken lamps and the shattered remains of a vase lying near it. "What about you?" she continued, turning towards Han, "are you just going to let him beat the shit out of the hotel room and himself?"

"He was mad. I'm not telling him what he can and can't do when he's mad," Han shrugged nonchalantly. "Besides, you and I both know the bare minimum of what's got to be in his bank account right now, because it's in both of ours too. I'm not worried about him replacing a tv."

Giselle nodded and grabbed three beers from the fridge before she sat on the couch beside Han and looked expectantly up at Dom. He stared blankly at her before he sunk into the chair opposite them, discarding the now bloody towel on the floor.

"So. She's here, she's miserable, and she doesn't want to be found. What's your plan?" Han asked Dom, unsure of what sort of reaction he'd get. He cringed inwardly, waiting for something else to get broken.

"Museums," Dom blurted out, surprising even himself, "if she's scared, she's going to go to a museum. We need a list of all of the museums in Berlin."

"According to this there are 153 museums in Berlin," Han told Dom, flipping through the guidebook from the coffee table, "you've gotta give me more than that. What kind of museum would she go to?"

"Military," Dom said, this time with force and certainty, "she's the only one from her mom's family who didn't join the military. She felt guilty about it, felt guilty that she didn't fit in." Dom rubbed the top of his head, thinking about her wearing her older brother's dog tags every day. He figured she had been wearing them since he died – she was wearing them when she moved back in with them when she was sixteen and rarely took them off. He never understood why she felt guilty about not fitting in with a family full of people who let her go to foster care when her parents died instead of taking her in themselves. His family may have been unconventional but hers was just fucked up.

Giselle scanned the list of museums, circling any that were military related as she listened to Han and Dom make their plan. They would call each museum, leave the phone number of one of the burner phones they bought, and have Jesse Cross paged. Dom knew she would recognize the message immediately, he just hoped she would know it was him trying to contact her.

"Ride or die," he muttered, as each of the three of them picked a random burner phone and dialled the first numbers on the list.

_Los Angeles, 1993_

"_How is this even up for discussion, brother?" Vince said, shaking his head as he rolled back under the car him and Dom were working on. "She's sixteen. She used to be one of your parents' foster kids for christ's sake. That's twisted."_

"_It's not up for discussion," Dom growled, "you fuck who you want, I'll date who I want."_

"_Wait, what? Date? Did you just say date?" Leon yelled from a couple of cars over. "Mad scientist, tell me the man did not say 'date?"_

_Jesse didn't stop typing as he looked up from the computer in the office and laughed. "Clearly you're imagining things, Le."_

"_Clearly," laughed Vince, "because Dom just got rid of a girlfriend. He'd have to be an idiot to get a new one a week later. Right Dom?"_

"_Fuck off, guys," Dom replied, kicking Vince as his father walked into the garage._

"_Well you four seem to be in great moods," Anthony said, shrugging his jacket off and tossing it on a chair. "Anything to do with the pile of empties in my backyard or the three neighbours who stopped me on my way out of the house this morning to ask if the next party could please not end with little drunk girls screaming outside?"_

_The four young men stammered, reduced to kids as soon as Anthony gave them hell._

"_No?" he asked, raising his eyebrows before making direct eye contact with Dom. "What about Letty falling over herself to put a sweatshirt on over one of your t-shirts when I got home last night? Am I getting warmer?"_

_Jesse, Leon, and Vince stifled laughter as all three were all of the sudden very interested in their own hands._

"_Dad, it's not -" Dom started before his father interrupted him._

"_She's sixteen, son. And she's just as much one of my kids as you are. So treat her well and don't do anything stupid because, unlike Letty, you are old enough to have to find your own place to live. The kind of place where your paycheque gets eaten up by rent and not spent on your car." Anthony told his son quietly, patting him on the shoulder, "Now get to work, all four of you. The last race of the season is in a week and we need to get these cars out of here so we can focus on mine."_

Berlin, present

"Hurry up, Le, I want to see Checkpoint Charlie one more time before we go," Letty yelled from the bedroom as she stuffed stacks of money and a laptop into a backpack.

"You will," he replied calmly. He looked towards the bedroom once to make sure she wasn't coming out and pulled a sharpie and a single bottle of Corona out of his already packed duffle bag. He wrote the number '906' on the bottom of the bottle, put it in the otherwise empty fridge, and tossed the sharpie in the garbage. "Alright, I'm done. Let's get the hell out of here."

Letty swung the backpack over her shoulders as Leon grabbed his own duffle bag and the one she tossed at him. She tucked her 9mm Walther P99 into the back of her baggy jeans as they walked out the door of the hotel room. She smiled sadly as she realized that, even though she wasn't going home, she was hours away from getting out of Berlin.

Disclaimer: still don't own anything, still wish I did.

Please review 3


	4. Chapter 4

_Los Angeles, 1993_

"_I swear to god, I have never heard so many people talking shit in one tiny bathroom in my life," Mia said to Vince as she sat between him and Leon in the stands, waiting for her dad's last race of the season to begin._

"_Well, shit, look at them. They act like no one knows they started hooking up while his girlfriend was in his house." Vince replied, nodding towards Dom and Letty. Dom had his arms wrapped around her waist and she was laughing at something he whispered to her. They both waved happily at Anthony as he got in his car._

"_Do people really care that much?" Jesse asked with a shrug, "I know I'm gonna sound like a girl, but they look happy. Shouldn't we just be happy that they're happy?"_

"_I'm happy that Dom isn't fucking everyone in the neighbourhood before I get a chance," Leon laughed. "Does that count?"_

_Mia smacked Leon in the back of the head as Dom and Letty came to sit with them, lost in their own world._

Berlin, present

Leon and Letty sat, side by side, on the little bit of sidewalk surrounding the tiny Checkpoint Charlie building. The checkpoint's staff, two actors dressed in MP uniforms, nodded at them as they went in the building for their break. They had seen the pair there every couple of weeks for the past six months – they never did anything, never talked to anyone. They just hung out for a while, always together, never saying much. The two men had just poured themselves a cup of coffee when the phone rang.

Leon listened as the worker who answered the phone realized that the person on the phone did not speak German.

"Lett, listen," Leon told Letty, nudging her in the ribs as the man who answered the phone passed it to the other employee, who spoke English:

"Buddy this isn't an answering service, it's a museum," he said to the person on the other end of the phone. "Okay, okay, fine. Jesse Cross. Yeah, I've got the number, but it's an open air museum, man. I can't just make a PA announcement for the guy." He rolled his eyes at his coworker as he listened for a few more seconds. "No problem, buddy, good luck."

Letty and Leon looked at each other, wide eyed. Jesse had been dead for ten years but Leon's fists were still clenched and every muscle in his neck was strained as soon as he heard his name.

"Someone knows we're here, we need to go," Letty whispered.

"Wait," Leon said, holding her arm so she would stay sitting, "we need that phone number. Come on, Lett, you can't tell me you don't wanna know who it is."

"I know who it is and so do you. Now let's get the fuck out of here before he shows up," she whispered, louder than before, as she pulled her arm away.

Leon nodded wordlessly as they both stood up and hurried down the street to their Mercedes M-Class SUV. As he pulled into traffic and drove out of the city, towards the Czech border.

_Los Angeles, 1993_

_Mia and Letty dropped their pile of shopping bags in the middle of the living room floor and flopped on the couch. _

"_I am never shopping with you again. There are four dollars left in my friggin bank account," Letty said to Mia, shaking her head. "What the hell am I going to do with all these clothes anyway?"_

"_You wear them, idiot," Mia laughed, chucking a pillow at Letty's head. "Do you forget how? My gross brother has that effect."_

_Letty started to laugh but stopped when she heard someone else giggle, followed by Dom's own quiet laughter._

"_That he fucking does," Letty said as she hurried up to his room, taking the stairs two at a time._

_Mia was right behind her as she whipped open the door. Dom's eyes flicked between the blonde on her knees in front of him and the dumbfounded look on Letty's face. _

"_Are you fucking kidding me Dominic!" Letty yelled, recovering first. She was across the room in seconds, pulling the blonde across the floor by her hair as Dominic hurriedly zipped up his pants._

"_Baby stop," he pleaded as she climbed on top of the screaming girl, covering the floor in blood when she broke her nose._

_Vince grabbed Letty around the waist and pulled her, kicking and screaming, off of the girl and into his own room. It took him and Jesse both to hold her down until she stopped fighting them and curled up on his bed, sobbing quietly._

Berlin, present

Dom stared at the silent cellphones lined up on the coffee table of Han's hotel room. He was sure Letty would get his message, but shook his head at his assumption that she would call. If she had been hiding this long why would she just call?

"She had to have stayed near that pub," Han said, guessing at his thoughts. "Let's go check out some hotels."

It took Giselle about a minute and a half of flirting to get Letty's room number from the desk clerk at the fourth hotel they tried.

"They checked out this morning, sorry sweetheart," the desk clerk said with a smile as he typed.

Giselle smiled sweetly and started to turn away as soon as she saw Han grab the master key off of a desk in the office.

"Wait, they?" Dom interrupted with gritted teeth, "who was she with?"

"Look, man, I'm not supposed to give out guest information. She was with some guy but that's really all I can tell you," he said before retreating into the office to avoid more questions.

"422" Giselle whispered to Han as she took Dom's arm and nudged him back out the front door. She glimpsed over her shoulder at the lobby before the three of them circled around to the back alley. They slid in a back door when one of the housekeepers went out for a smoke, found a staircase and hurried up to the fourth floor.

They quietly let themselves in to room 422 and started to look around. As he walked into the room Dom's knees went weak. Any doubt he had about Letty being alive disappeared as he inhaled her smell.

Dom went through the drawers in the bedroom as Han and Giselle searched the living room for any indication of what Letty was up to. All they found were receipts from a corner store and empty takeout containers on the counter until Giselle opened the fridge.

"She has serious nutrition issues," Giselle whispered to Han, "take out and nothing in the fridge but beer? She's like a boy."

Han chuckled softly as he picked up the Corona bottle but frowned when he noticed the number on the bottom.

"Hey, Dom? Does the number 906 mean anything to you?" he called out.

_Los Angeles, 1993_

_Dom walked into the kitchen and interrupted Mia doing her homework at the kitchen table._

"_Where's Letty?" he asked her "she wasn't at the garage today."_

"_It's Saturday, Dom. She isn't on the schedule for today," Mia told him without looking up from her book._

"_It's Letty, Mia. She's there every day."_

"_Yo, Mia!" Leon said, laughing as he walked into the kitchen, not noticing Dom standing beside the microwave. "You could have told me you were in here! I just went to get you and Letty's fucking some guy in your guys' room!" As soon as the last word was out of his mouth he turned and walked straight into Dom. "Shit, sorry brother. I, uh… Mia?"_

"_Don't even __**think**__ about it, Dominic," Mia scolded her brother as his fists clenched. "She's not your girlfriend anymore."_

"_She's right, brother," Leon said, nodding "You two are friends now, remember? You can't lose your shit over someone sleeping with your friend."_

"_Besides, Dad was pissed about the blood all over your floor. How about we keep it to one random with a broken nose… it can be my Christmas present, since you sure as hell didn't clean that mess up," Mia added._

_Dom turned, punched a hole in the drywall above the microwave, and walked out the back door._

_As usual I own nothing, but I'd be a happy girl if you leave a review._


	5. Chapter 5

_Los Angeles, 1994_

"_It's been eight months," Mia sighed, whispering to Jesse. "How can they still hate each other this much when they broke up eight months ago?" _

"_Fuck if I know," Jesse replied with a shrug, "I'm surprised your dad hasn't done anything about it. We aren't allowed to put our feet on the coffee table but they're allowed to scream at each other at dinner because he won't pass her the salt? Bullshit, man."_

"_Makes you wonder what my parents were like when they were teenagers, hey?" she said, laughing with Jesse as he pointed out the goose egg on Dom's forehead from the salt shaker. "My dad's convinced they're in love, still says they'll end up married with a house full of kids."_

_At the exact opposite end of the row from Dom was Letty, whispering with Leon and Vince. _

"_My friends," Dom muttered to himself, "she's got my friends wrapped around her fucking finger."_

_Before he could say anything about it, thus starting yet another fight, everyone's attention was drawn to the racetrack when they heard tires screeching followed by a sickening crunch._

South Pacific, present

"Okay. Yeah, no, as long as you're sure then I get it," Mia said softly into the phone, waving Brian into their room as she hung up.

"What are you so happy about?" he asked as he laid baby Gracie in her bassinette. Gracie Leticia O'Connor was seven weeks old and easily the most demanding person Brian and Mia had ever met. They both had dark circles under their eyes and walked around the house like zombies at all hours.

"That was Elena," she told him as she flopped onto their bed, "she's leaving. Well, Dom left and she decided it's time for her to do the same. She's flying home to Rio tonight."

"Why would he leave? What the hell is wrong with that guy? And where the hell is he?" Brian massaged his temples, expecting the worst.

"Letty's alive, Brian. Han saw her in Germany. I think she beat him up. Dom told Elena he had to find her."

"Oh Christ. Great. And we all just instantly believe that it was really Letty, she's been alive all along, and your brother who does nothing but drink alone in his bedroom is going to go rescue her? Not to mention Germany has a fucking extradition treaty with the U.S."

"Lower your voice, you're going to wake up the baby."

"Fine. I'll whisper that this is the most ridiculous fucking thing I've ever heard. She's dead, Mia. Do you think that trying to find her and then discovering she really is dead is going to do anything other than send your brother into a worse tailspin? The only good that is going to come of this is Elena not having to clean up after a guy who doesn't notice she's alive."

"Letty was all he had, Brian. The rest of us were his family, but she was his whole world."

"Well then you'd better hope Han really saw her, because he's not going to come home alive without her. Not again."

_Los Angeles, 1994_

_Everyone in the house was walking around in a daze, not even acknowledging each other. Neighbours brought over food every day and tidied the house after the funeral but even they hardly saw any of the team. In the five days since Anthony's death Mia had started sleeping in his room. Everyone was pretty sure she ate at least a bit because there would be food gone from the fridge in the morning, but no one saw her._

_Dom tossed and turned in his own bed, unable to sleep. He hadn't slept more than a few hours since the police brought them home from the race track. Every time he shut his eyes all he could see was his father's car burning. He was too tired to give his actions a second thought as he got up and walked down the hall to his sister's room. He crawled under the covers of Letty's bed, pulling her on top of him. She lifted her head sleepily to look at him, but he was asleep before their eyes met. _

_The next morning he woke up after 9 – he had finally slept for a solid eight hours. Letty was silent as she pulled sweatpants on and left the room._

_The next three nights were the same. Dom fought sleep in his own bed before crawling in with an already sleeping Letty. They didn't talk but they also didn't fight during the day anymore. They just took whatever comfort they could._

Berlin, present

"Welcome to the Czech Republic, Mr. and Mrs. Green" the border guard said in heavily accented English, nodding them forward.

"I think there are more brothels here than houses," Letty said quietly, cringing as they drove in to the tiny border town.

"There are also hardly any cops," Leon replied with a shrug. "That said, I'm probably going to wear a snowsuit to sleep in a hotel bed here."

"Ew, Leon. Give me the passports,"

"Yes, dear," he replied, laughing. "Anything for my darling wife."

Letty rolled her eyes and tucked their fake passports into her backpack.

"I need some sleep. Wake me up if you find food," she said, leaning her head back against the seat and playing with the gaudy diamond ring on her left hand.

_Los Angeles, 1994_

"_I've gotta run to Harry's," Dom said to no one in particular, "he called this morning - he doesn't have the storage space to hold our order there." He was feeling as well rested as possible, given the circumstances, after his fifth night in Letty's bed. They still didn't interact much during the day but she always let him in, usually running her nails down his back until he fell asleep, like he was a little kid._

"_I'll come," Letty said quietly, getting up and sliding her feet into her boots. _

_Dom nodded, grateful that he didn't have to go alone and grateful that he didn't have to ask for company._

_Dom and Letty thanked Harry for his condolences as two of his staff loaded their order into Dom's RX-7. They were about to leave when Dom saw Kenny Linder looking at tools and laughing with his girlfriend on the other side of the shop. He was across the shop in seconds and hit Linder with the first thing he grasped, a wrench, before Linder could say a word. His mind went blank as he hit him over and over._

_By the time Letty and Harry pulled Dom off of Linder he was covered in blood and his arm was numb. People were screaming and someone was calling 9-1-1 as Dom fell to his knees, taking Letty with him._

"_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I love you Letty," he choked out as he buried his face in her neck._

_Tears ran down Letty's face as she held him. She watched Linder's girlfriend sob as she tried to wake the crumpled man laying on the floor, his face unrecognizable._

"_I know, Dominic," she said quietly, closing her eyes as six police officers burst through the door, guns pointed straight at them. She prayed silently, willing herself to wake up and make this all just a bad dream._

"_On the floor! Get on the fucking floor!" one of the police officers shouted._

"_Don't let go," he begged her as the first two officers reached him. _

_Dom went limp as the officers pushed him face down onto the floor and handcuffed him. His eyes were emotionless as they pulled him to his feet._

"_Take care of Mia," he whispered to Letty as one of the police officers pulled her away from him. _

_He watched her get lead away, never breaking eye contact with him. Her white tank top was covered in his own bloody handprints and her long hair was matted with Linder's blood. She had as much blood on her then as the day he found her hiding under a bench in his dad's garage when she was eight years old. Then it was him protecting her, sitting with her while she told the police how her father had killed her mother right in front of her. This time he wasn't protecting her, he was the reason she was a victim again._


	6. Chapter 6

_Los Angeles, 1995_

_Letty woke up with a sore neck and numb legs. She looked around for a few seconds before realizing that she was at the kitchen table. "Fuck, seriously?" she muttered. The clock on the stove said 7:00 – not only had she fallen asleep at the kitchen table, she had spent the whole night there. And now she had less than half an hour before they needed to open the garage. As she stood up and stretched Letty saw that Jesse was asleep on the living room floor with the tv still on and his own dinner plate beside him. "Come on, Jess, we've gotta get up," she said, kicking him lightly._

"_Shit, shit, shit. I'm late. Shit. I'm so late," Mia said to no one in particular as she ran down the stairs, still pulling a shirt over her head. _

_As if on cue Jesse sat straight up, Vince came out of the bathroom half dressed, and Leon burst through the basement door with a towel. The five of them didn't talk as they rushed around getting ready and headed out the door to their own cars._

_With mortgages on the house, the garage, and the market they were all working non-stop trying to make ends meet. They were all working 7 days a week, Mia at the market and Letty and the boys at the garage. Even without taking days off and without paying themselves they still weren't sure how Anthony had always managed to pay the bills and keep food on the table. The whole team was running themselves ragged and, in between working and sleeping, they were also trying to keep Dom as oblivious as possible. Only Mia and Vince were approved as visitors so they were the only ones he ever saw – the others tried to write letters but stopped after a few months when it got too hard to lie about how they were doing. _

Czech Republic, present

"That might actually be the new grossest hotel we have stayed in yet," Leon said to Letty as he stretched in the passenger seat of their SUV.

"This coming from the guy eating expired Doritos for breakfast?" she replied, shaking her head. "You are the definition of gross, Leon."

"And yet you married me. You must have shit for taste in men," he laughed.

"Get fucked, Le."

They drove in silence for the next couple of hours, each lost in their own thoughts. It was only once they passed a suburb outside of Ostrava that they both perked up. Letty turned down a gravel road that was mostly obscured by trees and pulled up in front of a tiny old farmhouse. Before she could turn off the ignition a blonde toddler ran out of the house and towards the SUV, followed by a tall, beautiful blonde woman.

"Tomas!" the woman called to the little boy, "Tomas, let your father get out of the truck."

Leon jumped out of the car and scooped his son into his arms. "Come on, buddy. Let's go inside and get a snack before your mom realizes it's almost lunchtime."

Letty smiled as she watched Leon and Tomas disappear into the house and then walked quickly to the woman standing on the steps. "I'm so sorry I kept him so long this time, Anicka. Berlin went from bad to worse."

"Don't apologize for things that are out of your control," Anicka replied, putting her arm around Letty. "Let's go in the house. Tomas and I barbecued chicken for lunch."

"Oh good, so Leon already told you then," Letty said with a grimace.

"He called me from Berlin. I figured you could use a little comfort food. He's worried about you, worried that you're going to disappear when you can't stay hidden any longer."

"My being gone wouldn't be a bad thing. Your husband spends far too much time worrying about his fake wife and not enough at home with his real one."

"My husband and his fake wife need to talk to each other instead of trying to protect each other. Oh, and Letty? The other cellphone has been ringing all morning. I think you have a job to do."

Letty smiled sadly and let Anicka lead her into the ancient house. She felt her worries slipping from her mind, at least for the time being, as she flopped on the bed in her tiny bedroom.

_Los Angeles, 1996_

_Mia danced happily around the kitchen as she struggled to find counter space for all of the food she had made. She made sure that everyone's favourite food was on the counter, but the table was home to only Dom's favourites. There were pork ribs, chicken fresh off the barbeque, macaroni and cheese, two kinds of cake and a huge Caesar salad. Her brother shared very little at their monthly visits but one thing he would tell her was that the food in prison was awful. He told her every time he saw her that the day he came home he was going to do nothing but sit in front of the fridge. Mia didn't know much that she could do to help her brother reacclimate to life outside of prison so the one thing that she could do, she did well._

_As she pulled the last batch of cookies out of the oven Mia heard Vince's car pull into the driveway. She ran out the back door and threw her arms around Dom before she got her oven mitts off. Leon and Jesse followed right behind her as soon as they heard the commotion outside. Dom hugged all three of them and laughed as they all commented on his appearance. His head was shaved and he was easily 50 lbs heavier than he had been when he went in. Mia and Vince were used to the bulked up Dom but Leon and Jesse were shocked. _

_Mia quickly put an end to the boys joking around and dragged Dom into the house. All of the boys were content as they sat at the kitchen table and proceeded to eat more food than Mia could in six months. It wasn't until they had all cleaned their plates for a third time and told Dom every story they could think of about the past two years that Dom finally got a word in._

"_Where is she?" he asked no one in particular._

_The boys stammered before Mia cut them off. "She's at the market, Dom. It's Tuesday, we couldn't close it."_

"_She lost rock, paper, scissors" Leon added helpfully._

_It was a few hours before Letty walked in the door, grumbling to herself. She was in her own world as she kicked off her boots. It wasn't until one of them hit Dom square in the shin that the look of recognition passed over her face._

"_Dom!" she screamed entirely too girlishly and tackled him with a hug. He hugged her back for a few seconds but when their eyes met they both stammered and awkwardly detached, each sitting on opposite sides of the room._

_Letty was the first to head upstairs to her bed after she ate and the rest quickly followed. By 11 only Mia and Vince were still up, talking quietly._

"_I knew he was different but this is worse than when he visited. He's so cold and detached," Mia said, glancing up the stairs._

"_It won't last forever," Vince reassured her. "Give him some time, he'll get back to normal."_

Berlin, present

"Every account? Perfect. I owe you one," Monica Fuentes spoke softly into her Blackberry, smiling broadly as she hung up. "Toretto, Seoul-oh, and Harabo's credit cards have been frozen."

"Their credit cards are probably nothing. All of their money is under a mattress in the South Pacific," Luke Hobbs replied, gritting his teeth.

Fuentes rolled her eyes. "Well as long as they're in Berlin those mattresses are too far away to do them any good. It won't take them long to find some cash but it's a start. So let's find them before they find enough money to get out of the country."

_Los Angeles, 1996_

_Dom sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. He didn't bother trying to sleep, he just waited until he heard Mia and Vince close their doors before he opened his own. He knew Mia still slept in their father's room every night and was silently grateful for that as he quietly opened the door to what was now Letty's room._

_Letty had been laying awake for almost two hours and was surprised at her relief when she heard Dom's footsteps in the hall. She was silent as he crawled into her bed and laid his head on her chest. She closed her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her waist. They both fell asleep instantly for the first time in two years._

Berlin, present

"My credit card doesn't fucking work," Giselle said as she stormed in the door of the hotel room.

"So use a different one," Han said with a shrug, not looking up from the map of Berlin that he and Dom were writing on.

"I did. None of them work, Han. Not my cards, not your cards. Not even the debit card. Someone froze our accounts. We have no money."

"Fucking Hobbs," Dom said quietly. "He said he couldn't let me go. This is the first country I've been in with an extradition treaty since Rio. I shouldn't have gotten you guys into my shit again."

Han ate a chip and shook his head. "We got you into this country and we're all going to get out. We just need to make some money."


	7. Chapter 7

Czech Republic, present

Leon walked into the bathroom and found Letty sitting cross legged on the counter, brushing her teeth.

"He left me a message – I get the details for the last job tonight," he told her.

Letty met his eyes in the mirror, her face emotionless.

"I'm leaving at eleven."

Letty spit toothpaste into the sink and hopped off of the counter, turning to face him. "Good. Text me when you can. I'm going to sleep but my phone will be on."

Leon frowned at the miserable look on her face. Letty was never a particularly bubbly person but he was overwhelmed by the constant pain in her eyes. It had been there for the entire year they had been together. She rarely smiled or laughed and even when she did it wasn't real. As happy as her face looked her eyes still looked like she was ready to cry or kill someone.

"Stop it," she scolded, pulling him away from his thoughts. "Stop looking at me like I'm broken. Just get ready so we can get this shit over with."

"Just one more job okay Lett? We do this and it's a long beach vacation for everyone." It was only when her eyes flashed, filled with hurt, that he realized what he had done. "God, I'm sorry Lett. I just meant that after this we'll be able to leave. Fuck. I'm an idiot."

Letty felt like she was going to suffocate. She knew Leon hadn't meant to say it but his words were like a punch in the stomach. Her head was instantly filled with images of Dominic, his smell, his voice. She shook her head hard, trying to shake out every trace of Dom. "It's fine, Le. At least when you say you'll protect me it actually happens."

Leon sighed and kissed her on the side of the head before he stepped back and let her leave the bathroom. He couldn't believe what he had said. After how hard he and Anicka had worked to get her healthy again, he went and made a stupid slip up. And the way that he did was even worse than if he had directly talked about Dom. This way he made her relive one of the growing numbers of times she had gotten hurt as a result of Dom making decisions for her.

_Los Angeles, 1996_

"_Well that was fast," Vince said with a smirk as he walked into the kitchen._

"_No shit," Jesse laughed from his perch on a kitchen counter. "I honestly thought they might wait a few days."_

"_No way, I knew they'd be back in bed right away," Leon added with a mouthful of cereal._

"_Shut up, guys," Mia scolded, shaking her head as she hovered over the stove. "They're adults. And they're gross. So let's just pretend everyone slept in their own bed so my mind stays blissfully free of godawful visual images."_

"_All of you little perverts can stop with the visual images right about now," Letty said from the doorway, hands on her hips. _

_Everyone looked sheepish as they were suddenly very focused on eating their breakfast. Their silence only lasted a few seconds, though, before Jesse caught Vince's eye and made a face. Before long the entire team was reduced to giggles, except for Letty who just grumbled at them and loaded two plates of food to take back up to her room._

_When she got upstairs Dom was pretending to be asleep._

"_Come on, I know you're awake," she said softly, sitting in bed beside him. "Besides, I brought you food. I know you won't ignore me if I have food."_

_Dom took the plate from her without making eye contact. They ate their breakfast in silence before he left to shower and went to the garage alone._

_The sixth night he was home Dom walked quietly down the hallway to Letty's room. Every night he slept in her bed and every day he had refused to do much more than nod or offer one word answers to anyone, including her. When he reached her room his face fell: the door was locked. He tried the knob a few times, sure he could hear her sniffling softly on the other side of the door. He dropped to the floor and that's where he slept, sitting in front of her door with his head in his hands and dried tears on his cheeks._

Berlin, present

"This is the layout of the hotel," Han said, spreading a set of blueprints out on the coffee table in their hotel room. "This safe, the one in the office, is only for regular guests. The penthouse has its own safe but it isn't on any of the blueprints. There is an empty space behind the butler's quarters, though – the easier to get blueprints have it marked laundry, but the last set we got it's just a black square. That's where we think it is."

"So we're breaking in to the most heavily guarded hotel room in Berlin to break into a safe that we **hope** we know the location of? You fools always come up with the stupidest plans," Roman said from the doorway.

"Skeptical again?" Tej smirked beside him. "I'd think that $10 million in your bank account would have cured you of that."

Dom and Han looked up, incredulous. "How in the hell – " Dom started before Giselle cut him off.

"We needed backup. Just because you two are too cocky for your own good does not mean that I'm stupid enough not to ask for help."

"Are you serious with this?" Han asked her, "We are trying to get out of the damn country and you bring more people in?"

"Now you just let us worry about getting our asses home and tell us who exactly we are robbing," Roman said as he flopped into a chair.

Dom and Han shook their heads resignedly before Han continued. "The penthouse is rented to Kazimir Svoboda. He's a Czech national, the epitome of a criminal. He's got his hands in everything – apparently one of his teams hijacked a German military convoy a few months ago, stole some of the most advanced weapons the German army has. There wasn't a single survivor."

"He's been living in the penthouse for close to three years," Dom added, gesturing towards the blueprints. "He's a vicious, paranoid son of a bitch. But that works in our favour. If you're that paranoid, you're keeping your money where you can check on it once an hour. It's gotta be in that safe."

"So, obvious question, how do we get into the paranoid asshole's house, let alone into his safe?" Tej asked.

"Lucky break. His kids have already been excused from school for Wednesday to Friday of this week, family trip to Munich," Han explained.

"How the hell did you get his kids' school," Roman started before shaking his head. "Ya know what, I don't wanna know. You scare the shit out of me."

_Los Angeles, 1996_

_Jesse, Leon, Mia and Vince were sprawled throughout the living room watching Trainspotting. They flinched in unison as a car door slammed in the driveway._

"_Call it," Leon whispered, "Dom or Letty?"_

"_That much force? That's anger. That's Letty," Jesse whispered back._

"_You two are sick," Mia told them, throwing popcorn at Leon._

"_Bullshit. People make some dark jokes in warzones. You have to find entertainment to survive," Leon replied with a smirk. "And if tripping over your giant ass brother asleep on the floor in the hallway isn't evidence that this place is going to turn into a warzone, I don't know what is."_

_Before anyone could respond Letty walked in the house and slammed the door behind her. She stomped up the stairs to her room. In an instant there was another car door slammed and Dom came barrelling into the house._

"_Don't you fucking run away from me," he yelled up the stairs._

"_Run away from you? Get fucked, Dominic. I'm not running away from you. People run away when they're afraid and you don't fucking scare me, no matter how tough you think you are," Letty yelled from her doorway. "I just don't want you anywhere near me. So don't tell me what I'm doing wrong on a car when I'm the one who has been working in the garage for the last two years, not you. Stay away from me and stay the fuck out of my bed."_

_Everyone held their breath, watching Dom's whole body tense with rage. He was up the stairs in seconds. As soon as the yelling started again Vince cleared his throat. _

"_So, uh... ice cream. Who wants ice cream? I'll buy ice cream!" he said as everyone jumped to their feet and ran to their respective cars. _

_When they returned a few hours later the house was eerily silent._

"_You think they killed each other?" Jesse asked, only half kidding._

"_I'm not checking," Mia and Vince said at the same time._

"_You're all pussies," Leon grinned, already tip toeing up the stairs. He smiled when he reached the door to Letty's room. "I think we're good, guys," he whispered._

_In an instant the other three were behind him, peering cautiously over his shoulder. Dom was splayed out on the bed in his boxers, fast asleep, with Letty snoring softly on top of him in one of his shirts. _

Czech Republic, present

"Letty. Letty, wake up," Leon whispered loudly, gently shaking her sleeping form.

"What the fuck time is it," she muttered without opening her eyes.

"4 am."

"Great. See you in four hours. Get out."

"Letty listen to me. I got my orders. Kazimir has the job set up for Thursday and, whatever it is, it's big enough that he wants to be there."

At this she sat up, instantly awake.

"The whole family is leaving for Munich on Wednesday and I, his ever faithful bodyguard, am keeping watch at the penthouse. This is it, kid. We're getting that money and we're getting the hell out of here."


	8. Chapter 8

Fair warning – I put the wrong age for Mia & Brian's baby in chapter five. She's four months old, not seven weeks. In my defence, my brain only works about half the time.

Thanks for all of the reviews & story alerts, I'm thrilled that so many people are liking the story so far. It's going to get dramatic (and a fair bit darker) in the coming chapters.

As far as the flashbacks go, they're going to get bumped up to the pretty recent past to give some more insight into the story but we will bounce around a bit and go back to the beginning of the team like we have been. 1 year ago is right around the end of Fast & Furious, shortly before Fast Five starts.

* * *

><p>Berlin, present<p>

Luke Hobbs ran a hand over his head and groaned, obviously annoyed.

"Enough," Monica Fuentes scolded, rolling her eyes. "All I'm saying is that we have worked damn hard to find Ortiz and we are not screwing this up because you're impatient."

"Six months, Monica. I've waited six months for Toretto to show up and get his girl. Now he's in the country, we have every lawyer at the fucking embassy on standby waiting to process the extradition paperwork, and I want to get this shit done."

"And I want to get it done right. We don't just show up at a hotel and expect Toretto and his band of merry men to be sitting around together playing checkers, one neat little package, not to mention hoping that they surrender peacefully. We wait until they're in the open, with any luck committing a crime, and we get them all at once. You've tried this before, shouldn't you know this?"

"I'm going to get them, Monica."

"I'm aware. Just wait until you have an actual opportunity to do so. Don't blow your load the second you get in the same city as the guy." With that she smirked, smoothing the sheet between them as she rested her chin on his chest. "Come on, Luke. We just have to wait a little longer. Do you need another distraction to make the time go by faster?"

_Czech Republic, 1 year ago_

_Leon was working on his car in front of his house, 3-year-old Tomas his ever faithful helper. He smiled as he watched his son dig in the toolbox – usually Leon was pretty anal but Tomas could get away with anything. Leon could never figure out how he got so lucky. After he took Letty to Mexico and found out that Jesse was dead he took off on his own, not wanting anything to do with anyone who might remind him of Jess. He ended up in Italy and stayed with his aunts for a couple of years, street racing with his cousins and working at his uncle's pizza place. When his family started wondering if he had plans besides being a perpetual teenager he took off on his own again and ended up in the Czech Republic. Anicka was a stripper at a dirty, skeezy club but Leon thought she was the most gorgeous thing he'd ever seen. It took weeks before she agreed to go out with him but after their first date they were inseparable. They were married less than six months later and she was pregnant shortly after. Anicka and Tomas were easily the best things that had ever happened to Leon and they made it easy to leave his old life behind._

_The only thing he couldn't leave behind completely was Letty. She drove him crazy, she always had. She was the most stubborn, arrogant asshole he had ever met, Dom included. When Dom was in prison Leon and Letty grew closer. They were never interested in each other romantically, at least not that either would admit, but they had an easy friendship. He told her when she was being an asshole and she told him when he was too. So the one thing he never stopped doing, no matter how happy he was with his new life in Italy and then the Czech Republic, is making sure she knew how to get a hold of him. Any time he got information about where she was he'd mail her a postcard with nothing but his phone number or have someone bring her an envelope with his address in it. _

_Even though he made sure she could always find him he was still stunned that day when he watched the taxi pull up to his tiny, out-of-the-way house and Letty climbed out. He saw what rough shape she was in before she even spoke. Her clothes were dirty and she didn't have any bags. Her left arm was in a sling, her chest was bandaged, and she was clearly in pain._

"_Letty!" he yelled, running the short distance to where she stood, obviously wobbly on her feet. "Anicka, I need you!"_

_Letty smirked as he reached her and stared at her, not sure how to avoid hurting her more. "I'm not a fucking china doll, Le. You can hug me."_

_It was a few minutes before Anicka had Tomas settled happily in front of a movie and Leon got Letty into a kitchen chair with a beer. Letty was instantly impressed with Anicka. The gorgeous blonde was far warmer than Letty would have been if some random girl had ever showed up on her & Dom's doorstep looking for help._

"_So what the fuck happened, Letty? You do realize your funeral was a few months ago, right?" Leon started as soon as he was sure that Tomas couldn't hear him._

"_It's a long story, Le. I need some sleep," she said softly, leaning her head against the wall beside her._

"_Not good enough. You're supposed to be dead. And then you show up here, beat to shit, and don't tell me what is going on? You could talk for three fucking days and it wouldn't be a long enough story. Start talking."_

"_Look, for all intents and purposes, I am dead. Okay? To everyone. I ran into O'Connor about six months ago, I guess he's FBI now. Turns out fucking over everyone who has helped you gets you a hell of a promotion," she started through gritted teeth. She nodded appreciatively at Anicka who handed her a bottle of Tylenol 3 before continuing. "I made a deal with him, with his bosses. If I went undercover for them they'd clear Dom's record. He could have come home, Leon. No more hiding, no more heists. He would have been home, we all would have been. But it went bad at the end. They started killing all the drivers. I took off but this fuck wrecked my car, shot me in the chest but I was at such a fucked up angle that the bullet went in closer to my collar bone and lodged in my shoulder. Anyway, when my car flipped it took out some girl. I don't know why she was on that road in the middle of the night, but she was. By the time I got out of the country I found out why no one was looking for me. They thought she __**was**__ me. Either my car fucked her up really good or whoever identifies bodies for the FBI does a shitty job of it."_

_Leon stared at her for a few minutes before he spoke. "I don't get it. Why not go back to where Dom was if you got away?"_

_Letty looked at the table, refusing to make eye contact. "Dom left, Leon. He left me in the Dominican. He didn't even bother with a note like when he did it in Mexico and Venezuela. I was the idiot who followed him around South America like a fucking puppy and risked my damn life to get him off so he'd come home. He doesn't want it, Leon. He doesn't want me."_

"_Then you'll stay here," Anicka said before Leon could respond. "Obviously you haven't been to a proper doctor and I'd be amazed if you weighed a hundred pounds. Leon will show you where you can shower and I'll find you some clothes."_

Berlin, present

Giselle, Han, Roman and Tej were sprawled on the beds in Roman & Tej's hotel room. They were surrounded by blueprints, maps, and guns.

Han stretched and stood up. "I am exhausted. And this plan isn't going to get any closer to bulletproof than it is right now."

"Yeah, I'm gonna crash. I gotta fall asleep before Super Freak starts renting porn," Tej laughed.

"Hilarious." Roman deadpanned, nodding at Han and Giselle as they walked out the door.

"Wait," Tej called after them. "Check on Toretto, hey? He's been gone for like three hours."

Han considered this for a minute before pulling a key card from his pocket and walked down the hall. He let himself into Dom's room at the same time Giselle went into their room next door.

"Dom, you in here man?" Han called out, his eyes scanning over the empty room. It wasn't until he reached the bathroom that he found his friend.

Dom was passed out on the bathroom floor, wrapped in a blanket, his feet the only part of him still visible. There was an empty bottle of tequila beside him and dark marks on his neck from where he had ripped his necklace off.

"Fuck, seriously?" Han groaned. "As if I can carry your giant ass to bed." He knew from the little bit he kept in touch with Mia and Brian that Dom was unhappy and drinking too much but realized that it was worse than he had expected. Han sighed as he nudged Dom's feet and tried lifting one arm to confirm that there was no way Dom was moving. He left the room just as quickly as he entered, hurrying to tell Giselle that he was pretty sure some details of their plan were going to have to change.

_Berlin, 6 months ago_

_After six months at Leon's house Letty was finally getting back to normal. She was still very angry but had softened considerably and was considerably stronger physically than when she arrived. Her wounds healed quickly once Anicka forced her to see a doctor and helping run after Tomas all day had her physically fit in no time. It was around the same time that the three adults in the house acknowledged that money was fast becoming an issue. Leon reluctantly agreed to introduce Letty to his boss, Kazimir Svoboda. Leon had been working as one of Kazimir's bodyguards since he and Anicka got married. He didn't like the guy, but Kazimir paid well and always had work._

_Kazimir's first job for Letty was hijacking the military convoy. It was a team of five drivers and three gunmen – two drivers to box the trucks in on the single lane road and one pair to hijack each of the three military vehicles. The problems started from the beginning. The gunman she was paired with was out of control. As soon as he shot the driver of their truck and it veered off of the road all hell broke loose. The soldiers weren't expecting an attack so they reacted poorly, attempting to fight off their attackers instead of evading them. By the time the vehicles all came to a stop all of the soldiers were dead, as well as three of Kazimir's men. _

_When the trucks were brought to Kazimir at a warehouse outside of Berlin he flew off the handle. "You fucking idiots," he screamed at the men and Letty. "These aren't simple guns that you ignorant fucks can figure out, these are sophisticated fucking weapons. And who the hell is going to operate them, who is going to run the software, now that you killed the techs that were travelling with them?"_

_The entire warehouse was dead silent as each person tried to will themselves invisible to avoid Kazimir's wrath. His eyes scanned the men before settling on Letty._

"_You!" he screamed in her face, spraying her with spit. "You are the only new person here, the only one who hasn't pulled off flawless jobs for me before. You did this, you stupid bitch."_

_Before Letty could respond he grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into the truck beside her._

"_You'll fucking pay," was the last thing she heard before her vision blurred as blood dripped into her eyes and she lost consciousness. _


	9. Chapter 9

Alright, I said it was going to get dark and dramatic and it does. This chapter is nothing close to pleasant. I debated changing the rating but it's not overly graphic, just generally awful.

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><p>Berlin, present<p>

Dom woke up on the bathroom floor of his hotel room, curled in a ball with a blanket pulled over his head. He laid there for a few minutes, willing his stomach to settle, knowing it wouldn't. When he finally tried to sit up his balance was off and he hit his head on the edge of the counter instead. He threw up on his hands and arms trying to lift the toilet seat.

Han watched from where he stood, leaning against the frame of the bathroom door. He didn't say anything but winced as blood from Dom's head dripped onto his hands, turning the vomit a sick pink colour. He waited another minute for Dom to throw up more, this time into the toilet, before he spoke.

"You shouldn't have come if you knew you were this sick, Dom. I wouldn't have called you if I knew."

Dom flinched upon hearing Han's voice, the little bit of colour he had draining out of his face as he realized that one of his family was seeing him so weak. "I'm not sick, I'm hungover."

"You just threw up on yourself. And I think we both know it's not the first time. You know I have to call Mia, right?" Han continued as he soaked a towel with water and passed it to Dom.

"You aren't calling anyone. It's not as bad as it looks. It's that fucking number, Han." He cleaned his hands as best he could and stood up on wobbly legs. He walked into the main living space of his room and pointed at the coffee table. "They keep coming and I don't know what to do. The number means nothing to me. I've loved her since I was a kid and I can't even figure out what the number has to do with her. I don't even fucking know her anymore and it's my own fault."

Han's eyes widened as he took in the seemingly random collection of objects on the coffee table. The Corona bottle he had found was there, but so were a set of dog tags with the number '960' engraved on them, a flyer for a strip club with '960' written on it in permanent marker, two pieces of paper with an endless string of numbers – the number 960 circled in red crayon, and a tourist pamphlet from Checkpoint Charlie with '960' written on a sticky note attached to it.

"They keep showing up, Han. Some kid in the coffee shop downstairs gave me the dog tags a couple days ago, the flyer was under my door yesterday morning. The guy at the front desk gave me the papers last night and the pamphlet from Checkpoint Charlie was waiting for me when I went there the other day. Some guy that worked there asked if I was Dominic Toretto, said he had something for me."

Han dropped into a chair and picked up the dog tags, running his finger over the number absentmindedly. "We'll figure it out, Dom. But we've gotta get out from Hobbs' radar first. You know we do."

Dom nodded before he retreated back to the bathroom to shower.

_Berlin, 6 months ago_

_The morning after the military convoy heist Leon walked into Kazimir's warehouse around noon. He noted the military trucks riddled with bullet holes._

"_Mr. Romero," Kazimir said with a smile._

"_Green," Leon replied with a smirk._

"_Ah, yes, my apologies. Hard to keep up with your name – you've had a few since we met, haven't you."_

_Leon nodded before changing the subject. "How'd the job go – nice looking trucks."_

"_Quite frankly, not perfect. But the problem has been handled. Now, I am going to my daughter's school play today so I need to be on my way," Kazimir gestured for the two men with him to follow him out the door. "Just one thing I need from you today Mr. Green. The back office has some trash that needs to be disposed of. Don't forget to lock up when you leave."_

_Leon watched Kazimir and the other bodyguards drive away before reluctantly walking to the other end of the warehouse. There was nothing he hated more than dumping the bodies of people who had pissed Kazimir off before going home to Anicka and Tomas and pretending to be a good person, a good father. Leon pushed open the office door and his heart dropped. The crumpled pile on the floor looked more like a pile of bloody clothes than a person but the long dark hair matted with blood and the glint of a pair of dog tags told him everything he needed to know._

"_Letty!" he gasped, dropping to his knees beside her. "Letty, baby, please wake up. Please don't be dead. Letty talk to me baby." His hands shook as he gingerly lifted her head and put his face against hers. It was an excruciating few seconds that felt like hours before he felt her warm breath. _

_Letty's eyes fluttered open and she stared at him, terrified, before she tried to talk. Instead of words coming out he heard a soft gurgling sound and blood dripped from her lips._

"_It's okay," he promised, squeezing his eyes shut to prevent himself from tearing up. "They're gone, Letty. They're gone. I'm going to get you out of here, okay?"_

_Letty nodded, almost imperceptibly, and let her head fall to the side into his chest. Within seconds she was unconscious again. Leon scooped her into his arms as gingerly as possible, every part of him fighting to be as gentle as possible while his entire body was consumed with rage. She was still too light, too easy for him to carry and lay in the backseat of his car. It wasn't until he moved to cover her with a jacket that he saw the blood & fluids on her thighs, along with a handful of cigarette burns. _

_Leon waited until he was sure she was as comfortable as she was going to get, a second jacket tucked under her head and his plaid shirt wrapped around her ice cold feet, before he walked behind his car and threw up. His entire body shook with fury as he got back in the car and drove faster than he ever had before, straight for the Czech border. _

Czech Republic, present

"I look fucking ridiculous as a blonde," Letty groaned, adjusting her wig for what felt like the millionth time.

"Look, asshole," Anicka laughed, swatting Letty's hand away from her hair, "those wigs are expensive. Stop fucking with it."

"Geez, sorry Stripperella. Didn't realize you were so attached," Letty smirked.

"Fuck yourself, I'm barely a stripper anymore. Except when we're broke."

"Or when you want attention."

"How **are** you single? Charmer like you, the boys should be beating down the door."

Letty threw a red wig at Anicka and laughed. "Annddd you're a bitch. Now remind me again why you two insist on this stupid ass disguise?"

"Hiding in a hotel room getting information from Leon is different than wandering around the hotel where Kazimir lives and you know it. You've gotta give up on this one, Letty. Leon's only even letting you go because Kazimir's going to be in Munich."

Letty's eyes flashed with pain and anger for a second but the smile never left her face. "And because he can't do the job without me. Not to mention he knows I could kick his ass."

"One day, princess," Leon laughed from the doorway. "Look at this: two blonde wives. I have got to be the luckiest man in the Czech Republic."

Letty and Anicka both groaned and threw whatever was closest to them in Leon's direction.

_Czech Republic, 5 months ago_

"_Come on, Letty, you've gotta eat something," Anicka pleaded as she set a tray down on Letty's nightstand. _

"_Not hungry." Letty replied, her voice emotionless, as she rolled over and faced the wall. Her body screamed in pain as she did it but it was better than facing Anicka or Leon._

_Anicka sighed and sat tentatively on the edge of the bed, frowning at Leon as he watched from the doorway. _

"_Lett we're gonna fix this. I promise you I will get you out of here and Kazimir will pay," Leon said through gritted teeth, silently praying he would be able to be true to his word. "I've got a plan."_

_It took weeks but Letty slowly recovered from her injuries. She let Anicka baby her for a while but soon she was strong enough to start helping Leon work on cars and go running on the dirt roads around their house. Kazimir thought she was dead but Letty carried her 9mm Walther P99 everywhere she went anyways, tucking it in her sweatpants when she ran alone. _

_One morning when she came in from a run Leon was sitting on the front step waiting for her. "I heard from Mia," he started, studying her face to gauge her reaction."Brian and Tego helped her break Dom out of prison a while ago. Her and Brian are having a baby."_

"_That's great," she replied without feeling. _

"_They're in the South Pacific, Lett. We could go. You, me. Anicka and Tomas."_

_Letty tried to step over him to walk in the house but he caught her hand and held her there. "Don't, Leon. If you wanna go then go."_

"_I'm not going anywhere without you. You're just as much my family as Anicka and Tomas are. But they're our family too. At least they used to be."_

"_No, they're not," Letty yelled with more force than Leon had seen from her in years. "Dominic fucking Toretto is not my family."_

_Leon pulled her down to sit beside him and put his arm around her before she continued, crying softly._

"_He was supposed to love me, Leon. He promised he would always protect me, no matter what. But he didn't. He made us pull a heist that we didn't want to and instead of pulling me out of my car, instead of taking me somewhere safe, he made you do it. He left me alone in Mexico and Venezuela, left me with Tego and Santos in the Dominican. I got shot for him and he probably didn't even go to my fucking funeral. He cheated on me when I was sixteen and I still ran back to him, did anything he told me to, for more than fifteen years."_

"_He's not – " Leon started before Letty interrupted him._

"_He's dead, Leon. As far as I'm concerned that man is fucking dead. And Leon? You're not the only one who can keep track of people. You go back to him whenever you want, but I'm not showing up and breaking up his happy home with that cop bitch. They deserve each other."_

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><p>Please review! They're amazing to get and it's a lot more fun to write knowing someone is reading<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

Huge huge huge thanks to **chinchikurin **for pointing out that I mixed up my numbers – the clue Leon left Dom in chapter 3 is '960' not '906'. I'll go back and fix it soon but today just want to get this uploaded and go back to bed

Berlin, present

"Look at that. My darling wife, right on time," Leon smirked as he opened the front door of the penthouse and let Letty in.

"Do you know how happy I'm going to be when I'm not your wife anymore?" she retorted, placing her hand in the centre of his chest and shoving him backwards into table.

"Horseshit. You can't live without me and you know it."

Letty rolled her eyes before rubbing her hands together like a cartoon villain. "Let's get our money."

It only took a few minutes for Leon to get into Kazimir's safe. Being one of his personal bodyguards had given Leon some serious advantages when it came to getting information. As soon as the door to the safe was open Letty giggled like a kid and tossed him a duffel bag. They leisurely piled stacks of cash and jewellery into the bags, replacing it with monopoly money and plastic children's jewellery. Once the money had been swapped Letty opened her backpack. Leon left the room as she gingerly uncoiled a spool of wire and laced it through the stacks of monopoly money.

A few minutes later Leon leaned his head through the doorway of the fake laundry room. "Done?"

"Yes I'm done. You can come in the room, you pansy. The trigger is set so the explosives go off when something is lifted out of the safe, you're not gonna blow your ass up being in here."

"Whatever, you can't expect me to believe your bomb making skills are 100%. I'm nervous over here!"

"Fuck yourself. At least I can build a bomb. What can you do besides wear more plaid than a Catholic school girl and convince girls who are way too hot for you to marry you?"

_Los Angeles, 2001_

"_What the hell do you mean we're going to hijack trucks? That might be the new stupidest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth," Letty sighed, rubbing Dom's head as she sat in his lap._

"_She's right, bro. We street race because none of us are that bright, I'll give you that. But jacking trucks is a whole new league of stupid." Leon agreed._

"_Listen, we have no money. We're behind on two of three mortgages and Mia's tuition is due in a couple weeks," Dom replied. "This is an easy job, easy money."_

"_These truckers aren't going to protect loads that have nothing to do with them," Vince added, agreeing with Dom. "As long as we're not a threat to them they're going to give up their trucks so that they can go home at the end of the day. Dom's right, we need the money guys."_

"_It's settled. We're doing it. The first shipment is in a couple days and we need to get a plan sorted out," Dom said, knowing his word was final. Everyone nodded and headed out of the kitchen except for Dom and Letty._

"_I don't like this," she started before he cut her off._

"_You don't have to like it. But you're still doing it. I need you."_

"_Why am I doing it, Dom? Because you said so? Since when do you get to tell me what I'm doing?"_

"_I don't know why we're arguing about this. I know you're gonna do it, you know you're gonna do it." He laughed at her as she scowled at him. "We're doing this because you shouldn't be living like this."_

_Letty turned to straddle him and buried her face in his neck. _

"_Ride or die, baby," he said into her hair._

Berlin, present

"This shit is almost too easy," Han whispered to Dom as he pressed the button on the elevator keypad for the penthouse. "Doesn't it seem like this place should have a guard somewhere?"

"The front desk computer has an L. Green signed in as the only allowed visitor on the penthouse level until the weekend," Tej's voice buzzed in both of their ears. "Maybe a cop on Kazimir's payroll? Computer says badge #960."

Dom and Han made eye contact but before either of them could say anything the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Tej's voice in his ear didn't register with him as he stared as Leon and Letty standing side by side, each holding two duffel bags. She had a blonde bob and was wearing a red sundress that instantly filled his head with images of her, sixteen years old and uncomfortable in another red dress.

Letty's mind raced as she tried to figure out how Dom and Han knew where she was. She was torn between throwing up and crying so, before anyone else had the chance to speak, she dropped her bags and whipped her 9mm from the thigh holster that was hidden under the flowy skirt of her dress. She took one step forward and stood on her toes to press the cold metal of her gun against Dom's throat. She looked from him to Han before she spoke.

"Sorry, Han," she said softly before looking Dom straight in the eyes. "Face down on the ground. Now."

"Letty – " Dom started, flinching as she pushed the barrel of her gun hard enough into his throat to make him gasp.

"I said get on the fucking floor."

Dom raised his hands in surrender, taking a step back before dropping to his knees and then laid down flat on the floor. He fought the urge to jump up and sweep her into his arms, tell her how sorry he was for every time he had every hurt her, as he watched her lift the bags off the floor. His heart was crushed as he saw the look of utter disdain in her eyes every time they flickered over to him.

"Leon, let's get the hell out of here. Where are the stairs," she said through gritted teeth, not sure if she was trying to prevent herself from crying or kicking Dom in the face. Before he could answer she turned to Han. "The safe's empty. And filled with explosives. Go home, Han."

Dom and Han watched them run down the hallway towards the stairwell, Tej's voice in their ears wanting to know why he hadn't gotten their all clear signal yet.

_Mexico, 2001_

"_Dom?" Letty called from their bed. "Dom I've gotta pee, can you come help me get out of bed?" Her head pounded as she tried to sit up. It had been weeks since she rolled her car but the headaches weren't getting better. She was too dizzy to stand without help and spent most of her time sleeping or throwing up._

_As she reached for the pillow beside her for stability she felt the crumple of paper instead. She let herself fall back on to her back and groped for the note, holding it above her and squinting to read it. _

"_Did you forget I can't see well enough to read, you moron?" she yelled to the empty house. "Not like I don't know what it says," she muttered, crumpling the note and closing her eyes._

Berlin, present

"It's gonna take more than just me to get his drunk ass on a plane," Roman grumbled, nodding his head towards the car that Dom was sitting in.

"Well since I am paying for the plane to get these fools out of the country, I'm not it." Tej retorted. "Besides, he's a mean drunk."

Han sighed but walked to the car with Roman. It took one of them under each of Dom's arm to half drag, half carry him to the small chartered plane as he muttered curses. They finally got him into a seat where he promptly passed out.

"Mia's gonna be pissed when we bring him back like this," Tej groaned.

"Yeah she is. Elena's not there to clean up after him anymore and you know Mia's ass is gonna have to," Han agreed.

"And yet my day is all of the sudden awesome," Roman laughed, pointing out the window beside him as the plane gained speed to prepare for takeoff. "Everyone wave to Mister Hobbs."

The plane's mood went from frustrated to jovial as the passengers all laughed and waved to Hobbs and Fuentes as they pulled up and got out of their truck in time to watch the plane start its ascent.


	11. Chapter 11

_Mexico, 2001_

"_FUCK," Letty hissed as her vision blurred, turning the striped sheets she was staring at to a blue blur. She let her arms give out and she dropped face first onto her mattress with a soft thud._

_She had been trying to do push ups. Again. Six weeks since Dom had disappeared in the middle of the day while she was trapped in bed, trapped in her own body, and Letty was finally able to walk without help. Her strength was severely diminished from two months of doing nothing but sleeping and getting sick so she was trying to rebuild it. She did push-ups on her bed so that her aunt would think that she was sleeping and leave her alone about pushing herself too hard._

_Letty couldn't shake Dom from her mind. As angry was she was she knew that Dom hadn't left to hurt her. He genuinely thought he was protecting her by leaving her aunt's house and she couldn't say for certain that if their roles were reversed she wouldn't do the same. All she had to do now was get healthy so she could go find him again and show him she was safer with him than alone._

Maldives, present

"This is all I need. I could die happy right here on the beach," Leon announced as he stretched on his lounge chair.

"This is pretty great, not gonna lie," Letty agreed as she sipped a Corona.

"I bet I can make you both a lot happier," Anicka announced, blocking their view of the ocean by planting herself in front of Leon's chair and holding up her smartphone.

"I'm a bigamist who just bought a disgustingly expensive house on my own damn island in the Maldives with my wives. One of whom has sex with me. I doubt you could make me happier," Leon laughed.

"He's dead!" Anicka grinned, waving her phone in his face. "Berliner Zeitung online, bitches. He got home from Munich on Saturday morning, checked on his safe and BOOM. Kazimir's dead."

Letty's face broke out with the biggest smile Leon had seen since she was a teenager. Her lips moved as though she was trying to form words but nothing came out. Instead she nodded. "Good," she finally managed as she leaned back against her chair and closed her eyes. "Good riddance."

_Los Angeles, 2002_

"_Did you miss me?" Letty said with a smile as she walked in to Toretto's. She laughed as Mia squealed and tackled her, just like the last time she had reappeared there._

"_Oh my god, Letty, you have no idea! I can't believe you're here! You look so good!" Mia chattered away excitedly as she held Letty at arm's length and checked her over, her eyes pausing at the handful of scars that disappeared into her hairline. "How is your head, are you okay? Should you be standing up?"_

"_I'm fine, really. Other than some headaches the Post-Concussion Syndrome is pretty much gone. I'm just not supposed to do anything stupid because I can get concussions a lot easier now." Letty smiled at the concerned look on Mia's face. "Seriously, I'm here and I'm okay. So when are we reopening the garage?"_

_Letty had only been home for a few weeks when the first note arrived._

Call me when you need me. Women in Italy are unbelievable. But I'm a fucking pizza boy.  
>011-39-367-359-782<br>- Leon

_She smiled as she read the postcard and tucked it in the backpack where she would eventually keep all of the notes he sent. If she didn't have Mia to worry about and Dom to find she knew she'd be on the next plane to Italy. Instead she sent a single text message to the cell phone number:_

Large pepperoni and bacon, no tomato sauce, and a six pack of Dr. Pepper.

_As she pressed send Letty knew it would be a while before Leon would hear from her again, but at least he knew she was okay and that she knew how to find him when she needed to._

South Pacific, present

When Dom woke up he was genuinely surprised to find that he was in a bed. Since the team had gotten back to the South Pacific six days ago he had woken up on some floor or another every day. But this morning was different. He was in a soft bed with a pile of pillows and sheets that smelled suspiciously clean. He smiled to himself as he pulled the covers over his head and snuggled in deeper.

"Oh no you don't, you're getting your stupid ass out of bed and listening to me," Mia's voice broke through his cocoon.

"Speaking of bed," Dom grumbled from under the covers, "where the hell am I?"

"Seriously? You're in the spare bedroom, jackass. Han and Brian decided to play Russian roulette with my clean sheets and brought you in here instead of your house." Mia waited for her brother to ask about the night before but quickly realized he wouldn't. "You got loser pissed on the beach. Alone. Again. And Dom? This is the last time."

"She held a gun to my throat and ran away from me, Mia," Dom said, pulling the covers off of his head to give her a pointed look. "What else am I supposed to do?"

"Give me a fucking break, Dominic. You got drunk every day when you thought she was dead, you got drunk every day that you couldn't find her once you realized she wasn't, and you get drunk every day since she made it clear she doesn't want you. You are supposed to get your shit together and fight for the woman you love."

"She doesn't fucking want me, Mia. You just said it yourself."

"Whatever. You're a pussy. I wouldn't take your drunk ass back either. Oh, and Dom? You're here because Elena sold your condo in town. But you can't stay like this. Stop drinking or get out."

_Los Angeles, 1998_

"_Marry me?" Dom whispered in Letty's ear as he appeared behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist._

"_No," she laughed, leaning her head back and resting it on his chest._

"_No? No you won't marry me?" he said, genuinely surprised, and spun her around to face him._

"_No I won't marry you. Not right now, at least." She smiled at the exaggerated frown on his face and his furrowed brow. "I'll marry you one day, ya big baby. But I've got shit to do right now. And you've got a few girls to get out of your system. I'm not my mom, Dominic, and you're not my dad. But it would be too easy to turn into them. They were happy once too."_

_Dom smiled sadly and nodded. "You know I'd never hurt you like that, right?"_

"_Not intentionally," she shrugged. "But going out partying, coming home too drunk or high to know what he was doing, that wasn't to hurt her. He thought he was having fun, at least at first. Seriously, Dom, you know I'll marry you. I'm not saying no, I'm just not saying yes. Now go race or I'm gonna."_


	12. Chapter 12

South Pacific, present

Dom's head was pounding as he lumbered into Brian & Mia's huge kitchen. Their house looked deceivingly tiny from the outside but inside it was big and open with enough room in the kitchen for at least a dozen people to hang out and eat comfortably. This was good considering it was currently occupied by Brian, Roman, Tej, Han, Giselle, and Rosa, plus Nico, baby Gracie, and the pile of toys that seemed to accumulate wherever they went. The kitchen was eerily quiet as Dom started opening cupboards, all too aware that they had been discussing him moments before.

"There's no Tylenol in here," Mia said from behind him.

"Well then where the hell do you people keep it, because it's not in any of the bathrooms." Dom growled. "You took baby proofing to a level that might be unnecessary, Mia."

"She's four months old; I'm not worried about her getting into a pill bottle quite yet. The house isn't baby proofed, it's Dominic proofed."

Six sets of eyes went wide as they processed what Mia had said.

"So what, you're dad now? Hide the Tylenol to teach me a lesson when I'm hungover? Real cute, Mia." the look in his eyes was menacing as he glared at Rome and Brian failing miserably at holding in their laughter.

"Something like that." Mia shrugged, smiling sweetly.

Before anything else could be said Tej's cellphone rang. He spoke quietly for a few minutes before he looked up and gestured to Rome to pass him a pen.

"00-960-334-9582," Tej repeated as he wrote the number on the back of an envelope. "Yeah, no, that sounds amazing. I'll talk to you soon."

Han's eyes met Dom's before Tej had a chance to hang up. "Coincidence?" Han mouthed, raising his eyebrows. He frowned as Dom shook his head, brow furrowed.

"What was that, Tej?" Dom asked.

"Suki. My, uh, I dunno. Suki. She's on vacation on some island in the Maldives and wanted to see if I'm close enough to visit her," Tej replied, grinning at Brian and Tome and rubbing his hands together.

"I remember her. Asian chick, pink car? She was hot," Rome laughed before Dom interrupted.

"That number, it was a phone number. Is 960 the country code for Maldives?"

"I guess," Tej shrugged.

"It is," Han said, already looking the number up on his phone. "It's the code for the whole country but the country is a bunch of islands."

Dom grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and climbed atop one of the stools at the island. He took a long drink, cringing as the cold water hit his stomach and started a whole new wave of nausea.

"So. Maldives, then?" Han asked as everyone else looked at each other, confused.

"Maldives." Dom confirmed.

_Berlin, 5 months ago_

_Leon yawned as he let himself in to his and Letty's hotel room. It was a tiny room in a cheap hotel but they had spent so much time there over the last couple of months that it felt eerily like home. They'd spent every moment they could collecting information on Kazimir, making sure that when it was time they could be certain that they would kill him. There had to be no way Kazimir could ever come back, no way Leon could risk him hurting Letty again._

"_Lett? Are you here?" he called out despite being able to see all but the bathroom from the doorway. When he didn't see her or get a response he had to fight the fear that threatened to suffocate him. Ever since he had found her in Kazimir's warehouse he felt like he spent every waking moment trying to protect her, emotionally as much as physically. He scolded himself as he took long strides across the room and pushed open the bathroom door. It only moved a few inches before meeting resistance._

_Letty pulled the hood of her sweatshirt as far down over her head as possible and blocked the rest of her face with her hands. "I need help," she whispered, unable to look him in the eye. "I need to shower." _

_Leon knew from Anicka that Letty hadn't showered alone since he had brought her home four months ago. Anicka couldn't tell him why, she just knew that something about being alone in the shower was too much for her to handle. When they were in Berlin Letty took baths after he went to sleep, but she never showered unless she was at home while Anicka sat on the floor beside the tub and read a magazine. _

_It was the pleading look on her face, even as she was unable to meet his gaze, that made him agree. She was the toughest person he knew, tougher than him or Vince or Dom, and he had never seen her look so desperate. As he nodded and pulled her up off the floor he realized that she was a scared little girl in his arms, not the strong woman he had always known. In an instant he was back in Kazimir's warehouse in his mind, trying to pick up the broken pieces of his best friend. He helped her balance on her feet before he leaned forward to turn the water on, still holding on to her hand. He started to ask her a question when he realized that her eyes had glazed over – he was sure she wasn't grasping anything he said. She squeezed his hand lightly before her knees buckled and she lost consciousness._

Maldives, present

"You aren't going to believe this," Mia said, looking up from her laptop and waving Dom over.

Dom was sitting on the floor of their rented villa playing lego with Nico. He was both amused and annoyed that his family had decided, once they heard the additional details of his adventure in Berlin, that the excursion to Maldives should be a family trip. He was worried that they wouldn't find anything and afraid of what his reaction would be, but at the same time he was grateful that they all wanted to be there for him. Or, more likely, to keep an eye on him.

"I've got good news and bad news. The good news is there is an island a few hours' boat ride away that belongs to Leon Moretti. There are two residences on the island. Dom, the house numbers are 959 and 960." Mia told her brother as everyone else gathered around the computer with them.

"That's him, right?" Han asked Dom. "That's the Leon that was with her at the hotel?"

Dom nodded, rubbing his hand over his head thoughtfully. He fought to process the information, scared to believe that Letty might be so close to him again.

"So he's gotta be the one that has been leaving you the messages. If he owns the island he probably picked the house numbers too. He's trying to help you." Han added.

"What's the bad news?" Brian said quietly. Brian couldn't let himself be as optimistic as Han. He had worked with Letty when she came back from the Dominican Republic, spent time briefing her and was her contact while she was undercover. When he had been with her she had been excited at the prospect of having Dom back with her permanently but even then he had known that she was also more than a little terrifying. When she was angry, when she was scared, she would fight to the death to protect herself. Brian wasn't convinced that, even if they were able to find her, she would do anything besides actually shoot Dom this time and count her losses.

"She married him." Mia whispered, unable to look her brother in the face. "He married some girl, Anicka Jirků, a few years ago using his name. But there's a marriage license from a few months ago using the name Leon Romero. It's him – same address, birthdate, everything. She used her real name, it's just spelled differently."

Dom inhaled sharply as he looked at Mia's screen and saw Letty's signature, the only thing he could read on the form written entirely in Czech. Her signature was unmistakable – the 'L' and the 'O' were girly and loopy but the rest of her name was smushed together and almost illegible. His vision blurred as he fought tears for one of only a handful of times in his life and he stormed out the door without a word.

It was a few hours before Brian heard Dom pull up. He met him at the door and gestured for Dom to walk with him instead of going back in the house.

"Drunk?" Brian asked plainly.

"Couldn't find a bar. No liquor stores either." Dom replied, visibly annoyed by this.

"It's a Muslim country, bro. Alcohol's illegal. Why do you think your sister was so gung ho for you to come here?"

Dom sighed and then, despite himself, burst out laughing. "You're serious, aren't you? Fuck, I should've known. She was way too happy about coming here."

"She worries about you. Everyone does."

Dom nodded, turning serious. "I've gotta find her, Brian. I don't care if she hates me. I just need to know she's okay. And I need her to know I love her."

_Berlin, 4 months ago_

"_Stop it," Letty whined, smacking Leon's hand away as he tried to help her out of his SUV. "I'm fine, the doctor said I'm fine. Not that I needed a doctor to tell me that."_

"_What the hell doctor were you talking to?" Leon scoffed, ignoring her protests and putting his arm around her waist to steady her. _

"_The one who said that my scan came back fine and they didn't find evidence of the new concussion causing new problems?" _

"_What, do you just tune out the shit you don't want to hear? What about the part where you have PTSD?"_

"_**Suspected**__ PTSD, drama queen."_

"_Suspected because you refused to tell the doctor what the traumatic stress was." Leon gave Anicka a pointed look as she listened to their conversation and shook her head. _

"_Letty, the whole point of going to a doctor is so they can help you," Anicka sighed, taking over for her exasperated husband. "You have to be honest with them."_

"_Or, crazy idea, but hear me out: you two could stop dragging me to doctors and I could start smoking a lot more pot." Letty retorted, beaming. _


	13. Chapter 13

_Czech Republic, 4 months ago_

"_What if you guys get married?" Anicka said, flinching inwardly at the inevitable outburst her suggestion would cause._

"_Are you fucking high?" Letty asked, incredulous._

"_Clearly." Leon said, looking at his wife like she had sprouted an extra head. _

"_Oh calm down. Leon, you're an Italian citizen. Italy's a member of the EU. That means you have coverage here. If Letty was your wife she would too." Anicka explained with far more detail than necessary, enunciating as though she were talking to small children. "If you and Letty get married then we can get all of her medications covered by insurance."_

"_You say that as if I'm planning on taking the medication." Letty said, rolling her eyes._

_Anicka ignored Letty entirely, turning instead to speak directly to Leon. "Use another name and marry her. The doctor said it could take months to find a drug regimen that helps. If you guys get married right away she can start the first pills now."_

"_That actually might work," Leon admitted. "But you're assuming that I am okay with marrying her. You do realize that makes me a bigamist, right? Unless you're planning on divorcing me first."_

"_No one is getting divorced because no one is getting married," Letty interjected stubbornly. "I don't need the medications anyway."_

_Anicka whipped around to look Letty square in the eye, inches from her face. She spoke with more force than Letty or Leon had ever heard from her. "You are fucked. You're completely and totally fucked up. You are the most terrifyingly strong individual I have ever met but you have gone through the worst shit I can possibly imagine. No one would be okay after going through what you have, not even you. You need the medication because you need to be okay again. You can be a stubborn asshole about anything else under the sun, but not this. Now shut the fuck up and put on a jacket. We're going to the courthouse."_

Maldives, present

Brian and Han leaned back in their seats on their chartered boat and watched as Dom paced the length of the deck. Dom had gotten progressively tenser in the last couple of hours and as they watched the tiny island come into view ahead of them each footstep grew heavier and came faster. The skinny teenager driving the boat looked over his shoulder nervously as he pulled the small boat partway onto the beach.

In an instant Dom was over the rail and on the beach. His eyes followed the sound of laughter, her laughter. There, maybe 50 yards away, was Letty. She was lying in the sand, her black bikini barely visible as a small blonde boy dumped buckets of sand on her. Her eyes met Dom's and a look of fear, quickly replaced by anger, flashed over her face.

"How did he know?" she whispered as she stood up, sand falling everywhere around her.

"Letty, I had to - " Leon started, standing up from his beach chair.

"No. You didn't." she hissed before she walked the few feet to the little villa marked '960' and went inside, slamming the door behind her.

Dom ran to follow her as Brian and Han hopped over the side of the boat and strode across the beach towards Leon and Tomas.

"Heard some crazy stories about you, cop" Leon said with a smirk before hugging him. "Good to see ya, man."

"You did that?" Brian asked, gesturing to Dom standing on the porch of Letty's house, banging on the door and yelling.

"Not entirely the way I pictured it," Leon shrugged and laughed.

"Really? This is exactly how I pictured it, especially after you two held our asses at gunpoint in Berlin." Han interjected.

"Uh, yeah, sorry about that," Leon chuckled and extended his hand to introduce himself to Han properly.

Leon gestured for Anicka to come meet them as well. The four adults caught up and did their best to distract Tomas from Dom's yelling but they all looked up in amazement as Dom kicked in Letty's front door and went barrelling into the tiny house.

_Los Angeles, 1999_

"_Mia!" Dom bellowed from the bottom of the stairs. "Mia, stop studying!"_

"_Yeah come on Mia," Leon added. "We're hungry! And we don't know how to cook."_

"_She's not here," Letty said quietly from her perch on the couch as she flipped through a Chinese food menu. "I'm ordering shanghai noodles and orange chicken. What do you guys want?"_

_Jesse and Vince shouted their orders as they played Nintendo on the floor and Leon grabbed the menu from Letty's hands. Letty landed one kick to his side, eliciting a grunt, before Dom interrupted._

"_What do you mean she's not here? Where the hell is he?" he spoke over the team's bickering and joking._

"_She went on a date," Letty said with a grin that grew as Dom's neck muscles tensed and his brow furrowed. "She said not to wait up. Third date, ya know?"_

"_Damn. Mia's getting laid tonight, dog," Leon laughed, sitting on Letty's legs to keep her from kicking him again. _

_Letty, Leon and Jesse laughed as Vince and Dom's voices competed._

"_What the hell are you talking about, I didn't know she went on a first date," Dom started._

"_Who the hell is she on a date with? Do I fucking know him?" Vince interrupted._

"_Oh calm down," Letty laughed, throwing a pillow across the room at Dom. "He's some guy she goes to school with. He's very nice, very respectful."_

"_Very nice? You've met him? Dom, she's met him!" Jesse yelled, grinning broadly as he instigated the situation._

"_Thanks, asshole," Letty muttered as Dom stepped over the coffee table and lifted her easily off the couch, knocking Leon to the floor. He threw her over his shoulder and started up the stairs._

"_You have some explaining to do," Dom growled as he tossed her on their bed and kicked the door shut behind him._

"_I hope you realize your sister's doing the same damn thing!" Leon yelled from the living room, letting out an 'oof' as Vince tackled him._

**I'm sorry this chapter is so short but the whole Dom & Letty reunion just didn't fit in one chapter. It will come soon though, I promise!**

**Thank you all SO much for the reviews, I feel like a million bucks right now **


	14. Chapter 14

Maldives, present

When Letty looked up to watch Tomas collect another bucket of sand and saw Dom instead she felt like every bit of air had been sucked from her lungs in an instant. Her mind was blank except for one thing: fear. She didn't know if she was scared to see him again or if she was scared of him, she just knew that her mind was crippled with fear and she had to do everything in her power to get away from him. Her body was acting as if on autopilot when she shook the sand off of her and ran for the safety of her tiny villa on the beach, away from Dom and away from Leon. She shut and locked the door behind her before starting to rifle through the small basket of pill bottles sitting on her kitchen counter. Her hands shook as she fought the childproof top on the bottle of Ativan.

"Letty! Letty open the fucking door!" Dom yelled, banging on the door, oblivious to Letty desperately fighting to stave off her panic attack on the other side. "Letty, baby, please open the door. Just talk to me," he started to beg after what felt like hours of yelling. He leaned over the edge of her front deck to look in her front window and felt the same crushing fear as she had when she saw him on the beach when he saw her tiny body crumpled on her kitchen floor.

In an instant he was through the door and on the ground, gingerly pulling her into his arms. "Baby open your eyes," he pleaded, his hands shaking as he brushed the hair out of her face. "Please, baby, I love you." He stood, still cradling her against his chest, and turned towards the door. He was about to run outside, praying Leon knew what was wrong and how to help her, when her eyelids fluttered. Relief washed over him as her deep brown eyes met his.

_Los Angeles, 2 years ago_

"_This shit is dangerous, Letty. These people are dangerous," Brian whispered loudly, raking his hand through his hair, visibly stressed._

"_I'm not scared, O'Connor. I can do this, you know I can," she replied, calmly sipping her coffee and leaning back in the plush coffee shop chair._

"_I didn't say you couldn't. But you shouldn't."_

"_Aren't you supposed to be trying to recruit me? You're the one that wanted someone to go undercover. You should be happy right now."_

"_Every other undercover has died, Letty. My career doesn't mean shit right now, you staying alive does. You're my friend, that's not going to change, even if you want it to. I don't want you to end up in a fucking body bag. And I don't want Dom to put me in one when you do."_

"_Braga doesn't scare me and Dom shouldn't scare you. When he can come home, when all of this running is over, none of this is going to matter anymore. I need this, Brian. I need my family back."_

Maldives, present

As Letty regained consciousness she was aware of a comfort and security she hadn't felt in what seemed like an eternity. She snuggled in closer for a few seconds before she realized who was providing that comfort and her eyes flew open. She felt a new wave of panic as her eyes locked with Dom's but she fought it harder than she ever had before, willing herself to react instead. It took every bit of strength she had to tilt her chin back enough to get the momentum she needed to head butt him square in the face and split his bottom lip open. His grip on her loosened as his eyes widened with shock and she squirmed out of his arms and onto her feet in front of him.

"Get out" she hissed, her eyes cold as he grabbed a kitchen towel off of her counter to stem the blood coming from his mouth and nose.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" he yelled, cringing as pain seared through his head.

"Leave!" she screamed, her hands against his chest as she tried to push him through the doorway. When her bare foot hit a piece of wood from her destroyed door she was suddenly aware that she was in nothing but a bikini and put an arm protectively over her chest.

"You weigh like a hundred pounds. If I want you to listen to me, you fucking will" he yelled back, grabbing her arms and pinning her against the counter. Blood dripped onto her chest and soaked into her white bikini top as he stood above her.

"Fuck you, Toretto" she spat, struggling against his weight.

"Toretto? Really?" he laughed despite himself. "Say my name. Say you miss me, Letty."

"I don't fucking miss you. I stopped missing you when I stopped loving you."

Dom released his grip, sliding his hands down until he was holding on to her fingers, leaving the start of dark bruises the shape of his hands on her arms. He dropped to his knees and rested his forehead against her stomach, unable to look her in the eye. "Please," he whispered, "you have to love me. You promised you would always love me."

"Leave," she said, eerily calm as she side stepped and slid away from him. She walked calmly to her bedroom. "You know how, Dom. You've had lots of practice." she added before shutting the door.

_Venezuela, 2006_

_The sun shone directly in Letty's face as she struggled to open her eyes. She grabbed blindly for her cell phone, groaning when she found it and saw that it was 7 am. She had only been asleep for three hours. _

_When she rolled over to cuddle up to Dom's warm body she realized what had woken her. Instead of pulling one of his giant arms over her she grasped at his spot on the mattress, empty but still warm. Tears stung her tired eyes as she realized he had probably only been gone a few minutes. If she'd woken up just a little earlier she could've stopped him, convinced him to stay. _

_For the first time in years she gave in and let herself cry, curling up into a ball and crying herself back to sleep rather than face how terrified she was at the prospect of being alone again. _

_When she woke up again after two she studied his note before sitting on the beach with a map of South America and her cell phone, ready to find him again._

Maldives, present

Dom was blind with rage and desperation as he stepped over the remains of Letty's front door and walked toward everyone on the beach.

"What the fuck is going on?" he yelled as soon as Leon was within earshot. "She just fucking fainted in front of me. What the hell happened to her?"

Anicka jumped up from the lounge chair she was sitting on with Tomas. "Is she still out? Did she take her pills? Did you just leave her on the fucking floor?" she demanded, running towards Letty's house before he could answer.

"Leon, what the hell is wrong with her?" Dom asked, his anger barely contained as he got in Leon's face.

Han went to grab Dom's arm but Brian stopped him before squatting down beside Tomas. "Hey, Tomas, can you show me and my friend Han the water? I have a little girl but she's just a baby, so she doesn't like to pick up seashells with me yet," Brian said quietly, letting Tomas take his hand and lead him down the beach.

"It's not my story to tell," Leon told Dom forcefully. "And if you don't calm the fuck down around my kid I'm gonna let her shoot you next time."

"It's not your story?" Dom repeated, incredulous. "You married her, Leon. You married my fucking girlfriend. And then you start sending me messages, telling me how to find her? Is this what you wanted, you wanted me to see that she's yours now?"

"You're a fucking moron, Dom. The blonde who looks just like my kid? She's my wife. I married Letty so that my insurance would cover that big fucking basket of prescriptions that's sitting in her house. I took care of her because you fucking left her. You're the piece of shit here, not me."

Leon didn't flinch as Dom pulled back to hit him.

"Just go." Leon said quietly before walking towards Brian, Han, and Tomas.

Dom let his hands fall to his side and walked back to the boat. Brian and Han spoke quietly to Leon before they followed.

**Thank you all so much for the reviews – I hope this makes everyone feel better about the mean cliff hanger yesterday 3**

**Keep reviewing, good and bad, and I'll keep uploading.**


	15. Chapter 15

Maldives, present

"So. That went well." Anicka said with a hint of a smile.

"Did you know?" Letty asked quietly, staring up at her bedroom ceiling. Anicka was lying on the bed beside her, both of them littering cookie crumbs over the bedspread as they ate an entire box of Oreos.

"He's been talking about contacting Dom for a while but I didn't think he had acted on it. And I didn't think he'd be so fucking sneaky about it."

"I' m mad, that's not going to go away instantly. But I need to see Mia. She's my sister, she needs to know I wasn't leaving her. Just because I don't love him, that doesn't mean I don't love her."

"I've never seen someone hate someone so fully who they don't love." Anicka whispered.

Before Letty could respond they both heard footsteps on the porch and lifted their heads to watch the door-less doorway.

"Letty?" Leon called out as he walked in the house. "Lett, listen to me. I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"Really? Because you pulled some shady shit for someone with nothing but the purest of intentions."

"They're my family too. I need to see them, even if you don't. I need to meet V's son."

"I know," Letty sighed. "Just know that what you did was low and you will pay for it. I promise."

"Yeah I know I will. You're scary. It's not like it's a new development."

"So when are they coming?"

Leon laughed as he realized how predictable he apparently was. "Tomorrow night. Barbeque."

_Los Angeles, 1993_

"_Girls! It's a barbeque, not a fashion show. Get down here and help me!" Anthony Toretto yelled from the kitchen. He shook his head as Mia and Letty came thundering down the stairs and into the kitchen. They were each dressed up in their own way, Mia in a girly sundress and Letty in a leather miniskirt and a green tank top. "Mia, put on a sweater. Letty, put on pants." he added when he saw the looks on Vince and Dom's faces. He sighed as both girls ignored him and got to work setting out the salads that Mia made the night before._

_The house and yard were filled with neighbours and food. Mia happily entertained the throng of kids that were in the backyard, playing games with them and colouring pictures at the table. Vince stayed close but was more awkward than anything, watching her but not interacting with anyone except when Leon made an appearance to make fun of him. Leon and Jesse made the rounds, hitting on every unattached woman in the neighbourhood. Neither of them was particularly smooth, but they figured by sheer numbers they had to get one eventually. Anthony was all over the place, spending time visiting with every neighbour. Unsurprisingly, Dom and his car disappeared fairly early in the party, as did Letty._

_By the time the sun set most of the neighbours had made their way home to spend the rest of their Sunday at home. Anthony was content as he sat in his backyard with the group of unruly teenagers, everyone but Mia, that made up his family. Dom and Letty had reappeared, showing up to eat as the last neighbours were leaving._

"_Tony back me up here," Jesse pleaded from the ground, his voice strained from Vince's weight on his chest. "Tell Vince that you would never let him date Mia."_

"_Dom's allowed to date Letty and she's the youngest," Vince argued. "If Mia would go on a date with me, Tony would pretty much have to let her."_

"_Don't bring me into this," Dom said quietly from his chair. Letty laughed from where she sat on the grass, leaning against Dom's legs and playing her Game Boy._

"_Dom and Letty are different," Leon added. "No one could keep them apart. One or both would beat the shit out of whoever tried. But you, V? Mia only talks to you cause you live here."_

"_That's probably true," Letty agreed without looking up from her game. "She dates surfers and pretty boys. And you, Coyote, are neither."_

"_Fuck you, I'm pretty" Vince grumbled, grinning despite himself._

_All five team members looked up when Anthony cleared his throat. "Mr. Moretti wins this one, I'm afraid." He held up a hand to stem the protests from everyone but Leon. "I realize you are all shocked, being that Leon is so rarely right. But he is. Dominic and Letty are like a hurricane. Nothing I do, or anyone else, is going to stop them from being together. Mia and Vince, on the other hand, are unlikely enough that I haven't ever considered it. Sorry Vince. Now I'm going to bed and you five are going to finish cleaning up. And Letty? You have your own bed. Why don't you change it up for a night and sleep in it."_

Maldives, present

Leon smiled as he sat down beside Dom, both men contentedly surveying the scene in front of them.

Letty and Mia were sitting cross legged on a loveseat, both of their heads bent over baby Gracie as Letty held her sleeping namesake. The two of them had been inseparable since Mia's arrival on the island, with Mia tearing up every once in a while and Letty apologizing for scaring her whenever she did.

Anicka and Rosa had become fast friends, the two of them bonding over the busyness of chasing after little boys and comparing stories their husbands had told them. Han, Roman, Brian, and Tej were happy to bicker over barbequing abilities and the proper way to light a bonfire, as well as generally avoiding the awkward silence and death glares that happened whenever Dom and Letty were too close together.

"Thanks, man" Dom finally said after he and Leon had sat in silence for nearly half an hour. "I wouldn't have found her without you."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Leon asked seriously. "I knew she hated you, knew she didn't want you to find her. I'm not sure helping you was the right thing to do."

"She's hated me before. I'm not scared of her hating me."

"Maybe you should be. We're not kids anymore, Dom. You didn't get busted getting a blowjob, you left her. She's the toughest person I know but what happened to her changed her. You don't know her anymore."

"What happened to her, Le? Is that why she's sick, why she fainted and has all those pills?"

"If she ever tells you, if she ever trusts you enough to tell you what happened, you might get her back. But you don't deserve it, so don't expect me to do anything more to help. I already did more than I should have."

Leon stood and walked away before Dom could respond. He messed up Letty's hair as he walked by before going to sit with Anicka & Rosa. His anger towards Dom dissolved as he watched his son playing trucks with Vince's. He hoped more than anything that Dom's son would play with them too one day and he knew the only way Dom would want a baby would be with Letty.

_Venezuela, 2005_

"_She's here!" Letty yelled, running out of the garage and into the street. She was dancing around like an excited kid as Mia got out of Han's car and ran to hug her._

"_Letty, oh my god! I can't believe it's been almost a year! LA is so fucking boring without you guys." Mia laughed, teary-eyed._

"_You missed me too, right?" Han asked Letty with a smirk as she hugged him too._

"_Always," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Come on, Dom's got enough food on the barbeque for a couple dozen people."_

_There were hugs and introductions as Letty brought Han and Mia to the surprisingly comfortable patio hidden behind the utilitarian garage. Vince was there, one of the few times he met up with the team before he ended up in Rio, along with a couple of guys who worked for Dom & Letty in the garage. They all happily ate and drank, savouring the opportunity to forget the police and the heist. It was only the scar on Vince's arm and the guilt on Mia's face when she looked at him that gave any indication that it wasn't an entirely happy reunion._

"_This is nice," Letty said softly to Dom while she sat in his lap, her head resting on his chest as she fought sleep. _

"_Yeah, it is" he agreed. "Kinda like home."_

Maldives, present

It was nearly midnight by the time all three kids were asleep in Tomas' room and all of the adults were gradually making their way to Leon and Anicka's various guest rooms. Brian and Mia brought a sleeping Gracie to the guest cottage with them and said goodnight to Dom who was sitting in front of the remains of their bonfire. Letty had gone to bed an hour before, glaring at him when she pulled closed the curtain that was nailed to the door frame in place of her front door.

The beach was quiet and the lights in the houses gradually went out. Dom rubbed his eyes and cursed his inability to sleep without at least a decent buzz. "How does an entire country not have any fucking alcohol," he muttered, kicking sand on the barely burning embers.

When the last lights went off in the guest cottage Dom stood uneasily and looked around, making sure he was alone. His loneliness and desperation at knowing Letty was so close overrode any common sense he had left as he walked purposefully towards her tiny house and crept cautiously up to her patio. He only hesitated for a second before he slipped into her living room.

He got a look at her house that he hadn't had a chance to the first time he had been there. It was tiny but it suited her. The living room furniture was overstuffed and comfortable, the opposite of the modern beachy style of Leon & Anicka's house. Her kitchen was an extension of the living room and, except for the row of boxes of sugary kids' cereal, obviously didn't get used for much. The basket of pills was still there, neatly organized once again. There wasn't any art on her walls but every surface was covered by picture frames: Letty and her mom at her first communion, Letty and Mia sitting on the hood of Letty's first car, as well as newer pictures of Letty with Leon's family. He looked at every picture before he found himself in one: Letty and Mia on their first day of school, only a few months after Letty's parents died, in the front yard with Grace Toretto. Dom was in the background, sitting on the front steps and scowling, thirteen and far too cool to be in a cheesy first day of school picture. He smiled to himself, wondering who had been in contact with Letty to send her the pictures that he didn't even know still existed.

Next he went to her bedroom, hovering in the empty doorway. He watched her for a few minutes to make sure she was really asleep, his eyes flitting between her sleeping form and the 9mm on her bedside table. When he was sure she wouldn't wake up he crept through the doorway and looked around her room. It had the same warm, comfortable furniture as the rest of her house and was decorated in deep purple and charcoal grey, just like their bedroom in Los Angeles. He smiled softly as he realized this and had to fight the urge to crawl into the bed beside her.

Instead he sank into the armchair opposite her bed and watched her. She looked as tiny in the huge bed as she had felt in his arms the day before. She had lost a lot of weight since he had seen her in the Dominican, weight her tiny frame couldn't afford to lose. Her hair was longer but, even matted to her head from a couple hours of tossing and turning, it didn't hide the shiny white scars that disappeared into her hairline. There were new scars, too, ones he hadn't seen before. Her bottom lip had obviously had stitches at some point, and her chest and shoulder looked like they had been torn apart and restitched more than once.

"If you're not gone by the time I wake up," she whispered without opening her eyes, "I'll shoot you for real."


	16. Chapter 16

Letty woke up in a tangled mess of blankets and pillows. She left her face smushed against her pillow to avoid the sunlight streaming into her room. She reached blindly in the direction of her nightstand, realizing when she grasped the bottle of water that her hand hadn't passed over her gun to reach it. In an instant she was sitting up, blankets thrown to the floor and fear filling her. She grimaced as she saw Dom asleep in the chair beside her and her gun on top of the bureau, out of reach on the other side of the room.

"You never could follow directions," she growled. As she watched him sleep she felt herself softening the tiniest bit. He was the same big kid he had always been, the tough guy who slept with his chin tucked into his chest and one hand covering his face like a little boy. When he began to stir a few minutes later and his eyes opened, locking on hers, her affection dissolved too easily into anger. "I told you to get out," she said forcefully.

"I know," he said, raising his hands defensively. "And I will. But I was here when you went to sleep. I'm not going to let you fall asleep with me and wake up alone. Not anymore."

"You were supposed to tell me that when I still wanted to wake up with you," she said plainly. "Now you're making promises I don't need. Now you're just pathetic."

"That's nice, Lett. You're a real sweetheart."

"Oh fuck you. You treated me like I was disposable for fifteen years and now I'm supposed to be grateful that you left your cop whore long enough to chase me down? What's wrong, Dom? The whole uniform thing not turning you on anymore? Or does she want you to be a good boy playing house and you're getting bored?"

"Is that what this is about? You're pissed that two years after I thought you were dead I started dating someone else? Grow up, Letty, you aren't eight anymore. You don't get to be possessive of the toys you throw away." Dom could feel his anger rising and tried to contain it, tried to pretend he wasn't fighting the urge to ring her neck.

"I threw you away?" she yelled, incredulous, unable to maintain her cool composure. "You left me, Dom. You leave me every time things get hard. Some fucking man you are, you don't just run away from your problems, you run away from your family too."

"I needed to know you were safe. I left you because I love you."

"You don't love me," she spat, venom in her words. You loved having a mechanic you could fuck."

_Los Angeles, 2001_

"_What is your problem?" Dom yelled loud enough for the whole garage to hear after the fourth time Letty threw a tool from under her car. When she didn't respond, choosing instead to send a wrench skidding across the floor, narrowly missing his foot, he stomped over to her car. When she ignored his question a second time he grabbed her calves, the only part of her still visible, and whipped her out from under the car._

"_What the hell are you doing?" she demanded, jumping to her feet and standing on her toes to yell directly in his face._

_Jesse, Vince, and Leon crammed into the tiny office and shut the door before they heard Dom's response. Mia looked up from the computer wearily, glancing from the boys pressed against the door to Dom and Letty's exaggerated gesturing and muffled yelling. She sighed and pulled a couple bags of chips from the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet, tossing them to the boys. _

"_Wow. It's almost like you predicted this." Leon deadpanned, trading his Cheetos for Vince's salt and vinegar Lays._

"_Did you see the way she went psycho on him at the races last night?" Jesse said, flinching as Dom kicked a metal toolbox that went sailing into a wall. _

"_I thought that Jamil chick was going to shit her pants," Vince laughed. _

"_Yeah, I'm pretty sure she actually left after Letty told her and that other blonde girl to fuck off. Monica something, was that her name?" Mia added. _

"_Too bad she didn't have a problem with him bringing the buster to the fort after," Vince said with a pointed look at Mia._

"_Oh oh oh, we're free!" Jesse yelled before Mia could respond. All four of them watched Dom scoop a slightly less enraged Letty up in his arms and drop her in the passenger seat of his car before getting in the driver's side and taking off. _

"_Don't forget to restock the snacks for the next fight," Leon told Mia before he went back to the truck he had been working on._

Maldives, present

"I swear to god, the first night I met Dom and Letty in Mexico he got out of his car after winning a race and she was totally normal, I thought she was happy he won the race. Then he introduces her to me and all she says is 'what, you run out of Mexican girls to fuck? He doesn't look like your type.'" Han laughed, his arms wrapped around Giselle's waist. "It was a solid week before she started talking to me. Did she really think he was trying to fuck me?"

The whole kitchen erupted with laughter as everyone talked over each other, joking about Dom and Letty's fights so they wouldn't have to acknowledge that the most epic one was either currently happening or on its way.

"What about when they were broken up and your dad had to have them on alternating schedules so they would stop fucking up customers' cars when they got in fights?" Leon said to Mia before continuing the story for everyone else. "They both had to work, unpaid, for almost four months because of all the damage they did. The craziest shit would set them off – she put a toolbox through a windshield because he was breathing too loud."

"Oh, god, and he was even worse. Her temper was bad but he did some malicious shit. She went on a date and didn't come home so he put her brand new stereo underneath a truck and just stood there, shit eating grin on his face. The guy dropped her off for her shift and when she walked in he dropped the lift, crushed her stereo right in front of her. " Mia added, laughing so hard she woke up Gracie.

"I've never been as scared as the first time I was alone with them," Brian started. He was cut off by Letty stomping into the kitchen, followed closely by Dom.

"Enough!" Letty yelled, turning to face Dom. "Stop following me! We're done with this fucking conversation!"

"Language!" Mia hissed, gesturing to the three kids staring wide eyed at Letty.

The already quiet room went silent as Dom took long strides across the kitchen. He lifted his hand to touch her face but let it drop to his side when he saw the look on her face. "This isn't me leaving," he said softly before turning to Brian. "I'm going to wait for the boat."


	17. Chapter 17

"Dom are you ready? We've gotta get to the airstrip!" Mia yelled as she walked into his room in their rented villa. She grimaced when she saw his clothes strewn around the room. He was face down on the bed with a pillow over his head. "Seriously? Dom we've gotta go, why aren't you packed?"

"Not leaving," he grumbled without moving.

Mia sighed and sat down beside him. She'd been taking care of him for years and every time she was with him her mom instincts kicked in. "You have to leave. We only rented this place for a week." She said quietly, starting to fold the clothes that were littering the bed and floor.

"I'm serious, Mia. I'm not leaving." He said, sitting up to look at her. "I can't leave her anymore."

"Dom, you need to give her space."

"She hates me because I left her. Whatever happened to her, whatever those pills are for, it's all because I left her. I'm not leaving her again."

"Please, Dom. You know where she is now. Maybe that needs to be enough for a little while. We'll come back in a few weeks and you can try again."

"Mia you don't understand. I need her. She can hate me forever but I can't leave her."

"I was alone for five years, Dom. My family is dead or hiding from the cops because of who I fell in love with. Do you know how hard it was for me to be in love with Brian when I hated everything about him? Don't tell me I don't understand." Mia's eyes flashed as she spoke but she could see the determination on her brother's face. He had been stubborn their whole lives, he wasn't about to change. She changed tactics and started packing his bag for him. "So is Leon going to let you stay there or do you want me to find you a condo in Malé?"

_Los Angeles, 2009_

"_Letty?" Mia called out as she walked into the garage. It was past midnight but it was as hot outside as it had been in the afternoon and the stuffy garage was even worse. "Letty, you need to eat something."_

_It took a few seconds before Mia saw Letty. Only her feet peeked out from under Dom's Charger and she cursed quietly before calling out. "Pass me a bigger ratchet, Mi?"_

_Mia sighed and knelt down to pass Letty the tool. "Seriously, please come eat? I made lasagna."_

"_There's two of us."_

"_Exactly. So get your ass out of here and help me eat the giant ass lasagne."_

_Letty laughed and pushed herself out from under the car, coming face to face with Mia. "Fine. But only for a minute. I've gotta get his car finished."_

Maldives, 6 weeks later

"Sounds perfect, I'll see you in a week. I love you too," Letty said into the phone, then started laughing. "Yeah, sure, I guess I love the buster too." She hung up the phone and stretched. The phone call had woke her up, but her grumpiness dissolved when Mia told her that they were coming for a visit.

Letty climbed out of her giant, cushy bed. It was already way too hot for the sweatpants she usually pulled on over her boy shorts and tank top when she got up. The sunlight was streaming into her tiny house as she walked into her kitchen. She poured milk over her bowl of cereal and left the cereal box on the counter before curling her legs under her in an overstuffed armchair. She balanced her bowl on her lap and turned on her tv, conveniently pre-set to a music channel with the volume turned up far louder than necessary.

"Fuck, seriously? What time is it?" Dom grumbled from the couch he had been sleeping on. His legs and back ached from sleeping curled up on a couch that was much too small for him but, just like every morning for the past 6 weeks, he didn't have a hangover.

"Time to get out." Letty said simply without looking at him. She was starting to get used to their weird routine. She ignored him all day and then, shortly before she fell asleep, he'd let himself in to her house and go to sleep on her couch. At first she tried kicking him out but he was adamant that he wasn't going to let her wake up alone again. It pissed her off but he left every morning without much of a fight so she had given up on changing his mind.

"Already? Still not gonna share your Fruit Loops?" he asked with a grin. He stood up and smirked as she made a point of looking at the tv and not at his bare chest.

"Nope, I have to get this shirt imported. Get out."

"See you tonight." He chuckled as he opened the door he had installed a few weeks earlier, conveniently keeping a spare key for himself.

"Not if I find a hardware store and change the locks, asshole," she grumbled.

Dom turned back to make a comment but he was distracted when she grabbed her cereal bowl and shifted so that she was sitting cross legged. In an instant he was across the room and on his knees in front of her, his hands on her hips to hold her still.

"What the fuck, Dom, get off me!" she yelled, pushing her foot against his chest. It wasn't until she looked down that she realized what he was looking at and wanted to kick herself for not putting on her sweats. The cigarette burns on her inner thighs had had more than six months to heal but the scars were obvious and the skin around them was dark red.

"What the fuck is this, Letty, what's on your legs?" he asked angrily, still holding her in place.

She struggled to stay composed as she fought his strength and failed miserably. Her voice changed and she gave up on fighting him and instead tried to play nice, tried to be calm enough to convince him to leave her alone. "Nothing, it's nothing. Just go, okay? I'll see you later today. We can get lunch or something."

"No, fuck that, I'm not going anywhere. Your legs – " he searched her face for an explanation before running his thumb over one of the burns. His face darkened as he realized he knew exactly what he was seeing. "They're cigarette burns. Letty? Tell me they're not cigarette burns. Please."

"I'm fine, Dom. I can take care of myself. I **did** take care of it. I'm sorry, okay? I should've put pants on, I wasn't thinking. You weren't supposed to see." She spoke softly, running one hand over his head and putting the other over his hand to keep him from inspecting her scars more.

"What, that makes it all better? I wasn't supposed to see? It shouldn't have fucking happened. Whatever this is, it shouldn't have happened to you." His voice was hard as he was torn between wanting to protect her and wanting to kill someone.

"You know what? You're right. It shouldn't have happened. But you left me. You left me alone and it happened." She could feel the edge returning to her voice and closed her eyes so that she wouldn't have to meet his eyes. He looked so desperate, so lost, she knew if she saw him broken she wouldn't be able to hate him anymore. "Just go, Dom," she said after a minute. "And leave your key."

_Los Angeles, 1985_

_Dom was only twelve but he knew that when there were cops all over his street they were at the Ortiz's house. Everyone knew that. Usually they'd stay for an hour, playing referee while Letty's parents screamed at each other. If her dad beat up her mom bad enough she'd agree to press charges and they'd arrest him, but he was always back in a day or two. Dom knew from his parents' whispering that she always dropped the charges. Dom's mom said it was because she loved him as much as she had when she was fifteen, his dad said it was because she was terrified. Either way, the police never stayed away for more than a couple weeks and Letty's dad was never gone for more than a couple of days._

_Today was different, though, and Dom knew it. He had never seen a dead body, except for on tv, but today he did. His mom had grabbed Mia and pulled her into the house before the police shot Letty's dad but Dom had stood on the sidewalk and seen him come running down the front steps with a hammer, already covered in blood. So much blood that if he hadn't heard the gunshots Dom wouldn't have even known Mr. Ortiz had been shot. It wasn't until the coroner covered his body and loaded it into a van and then started inside the house to do the same with her mom that Dom's mom went to talk to the cops. He watched from the house, having been told to stay put and keep Mia there too, as his mother gestured wildly and then every police officer went running in different directions. _

_Dom's mom came back in the house and whispered with his dad but Dom already knew what they were saying: Letty was gone. She hadn't been there when the police got to the house and they hadn't known to look for her. The house didn't even look like a kid lived in it. She didn't have any toys of her own and she slept on a pull-out couch. The few belongings she did have were in a closet in the basement, not that anyone but her knew it._

_While his parents went back out front to speak to another police officer Dom slipped out the back door and jogged into the garage. "Letty?" he called out, dropping onto all fours to look under his father's car. That's when he saw her, across the room, hidden under a bench. She had pulled a box in front of her so all he could see of her was her bare feet and the top of her head. "Come on, Lett, everyone's looking for you," he said softly, moving the box and looking right into her scared eyes. He shuddered as he saw the blood covering her arms and her baggy t-shirt._

"_Is she dead?" she whispered without moving._

"_They both are," he said, nodding. He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be the one to tell her but he knew he had to give her an answer and he couldn't bring himself to lie. She was too tiny, too fragile. As much of a pain in the ass as she was, she was like an extra sister. An extra sister he hadn't asked for, but his dad was always telling him that Letty needed him more than Mia did and he had better remember it._

"_Good." She whispered, letting him pull her out from her hiding place and hugging her to his chest as his father and two police officers walked into the garage._


	18. Chapter 18

Maldives, present

Letty watched Dom leave his spare key on the table beside the front door before he left. She stood up as soon as the door closed and locked the deadbolt. Her heart was screaming at her not to, begging her to open the door and call him back. What happened to her wasn't his fault, it wasn't anyone's fault. She was the victim of a sociopath, the closest target for an evil man. If she called Dom back she could let him apologize one more time. They would scream and yell, do anything in their power to hurt each other, and then fall into bed. They had been doing it since they were teenagers. One more time and they could be back to normal. She wouldn't have to sleep alone anymore or keep every secret locked inside of her.

Letty couldn't listen to her heart, though. Her heart was what allowed him to treat her like she was disposable, leaving her alone all over the world. Her heart let her forgive him when she caught him with another girl when she was sixteen and act like she didn't care when she caught him with other girls in the Dominican Republic. Her head was going to win this one. Her head wouldn't let her forget how she felt every time she woke up alone, how scared she was every time she had to face the world alone. Her head couldn't give her the chance to feel that suffocating terror ever again. If she made him leave, if it was on her terms, she wasn't being abandoned. For once in her life Letty needed to be the one who was doing the abandoning.

So instead she walked through her bedroom and onto her hidden back porch. There were so many trees surrounding it that no one but Leon & Anicka even knew it existed. She didn't bother wrapping her hands before she laid into the heavy bag, closing her eyes as she punched and kicked herself into exhaustion. By the time she stopped she could hardly catch her breath. Her hands and arms were numb and blood dripped from her destroyed knuckles.

She sank to the ground and sat there for a while, grateful that her physical exhaustion seemed to be spreading to her mind. She needed a few minutes where her mind wasn't racing. It was only a few minutes before Tomas' voice pulled her out of her haze.

"Auntie?" Tomas called out, climbing through the trees and scaling her porch railing easily.

Letty laughed despite herself. Tomas looked just like Anicka but his personality was all Leon. He was a wild child, completely in his element on the island that was his personal playground. "Come on, T," she smiled, holding out her arms to him. He was entirely un-phased by her bloody hands, climbing onto her lap and leaning his head on her chest.

"Mama said to tell you she'll be here soon so you can shower."

Letty nodded and closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around him.

_Berlin, 2010_

_Letty sputtered and coughed as one of Kazimir's bodyguards grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her forwards. She was sitting on the floor of a shower she didn't know was in the back of the huge warehouse. As soon as her face hit her knees she threw up the water that the shower forced into her stomach. Her sinuses burned from the freezing water that had been forced into her for the last few minutes. _

_She barely got a chance to draw a breath before Kazimir nodded with a twisted smile and the huge man on his knees beside her pulled her head backwards again. Water from the industrial strength shower poured into her nose and mouth while she struggled to close off her throat. She had never been as sure of anything as she was that they were just getting warmed up. She knew Kazimir wasn't going to let his bodyguard drown her in the shower, not when he had hours until Leon was supposed to arrive. She had no doubt she'd be dead by the time Leon arrived, but it wasn't going to be this easy. She used the last bit of strength she had to pray that Kazimir wouldn't blame Leon for bringing her into the organization and kill him as well._

Maldives, present

Dom cringed as he felt the first raindrops. Letty hadn't been kidding about leaving his key – he was locked out of her room for the second time in his life. He had tried her door when he was ready to go to bed but wasn't surprised to find it locked. So instead he was crammed into a wicker chair on her front porch. If she wasn't ready to let him back in her house that was okay. He knew he had crossed a line by demanding answers from her but he couldn't escape the fear and suffocating rage that enveloped him when he saw the scars on her legs. He knew she was broken but he was starting to get a very fuzzy picture of what sort of things might have pushed her over that edge.

The thought keeping him warm was the soft voice she had used when she was trying to calm him down. He hadn't heard that voice since the Dominican. There was concern behind her words, maybe even love. Dom wasn't ready to give up on her, he didn't think he ever would be. But that soft voice, those soft words, they made him realize that he might not be sleeping on her couch until he was sixty. Some part of her still cared, he just had to find it.

When the rain became a downpour he pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and then smiled. He had to strain his ears to hear it, but he knew exactly what he heard: the deadbolt turning in her door. He only waited a few seconds to jump up, soaked, and walk into her living room. The door to her bedroom was already closed, just like every night, but there was a towel and a dry blanket on the couch.

_Los Angeles, 1995_

_It took three months of being bounced around foster homes before Grace & Anthony Toretto got custody of Letty. They had never been foster parents before but as soon as their last home visit was complete they asked to have her brought home. _

_It was almost midnight on a Thursday night when the social worker brought her back, already in her pyjamas. When she got there she was the same Letty, just a little quieter. She figured that her life was so awful before her parents died, foster care wasn't any worse. At least there she got fed most of the time. _

_The first thing she did when she got to the Toretto's house was ask about her parents' house._

"_No, sweetheart, no one has rented it yet. Their landlord said that, uh – " Anthony paused, unsure of how to continue the sentence._

"_She was there, hun. She knows." Grace said softly to her husband before continuing his sentence for him. "It's hard to clean up after something like that. They'll have to rip out a lot of the carpet and fix the walls."_

_Letty nodded and shrugged, life making her too mature for eight years old. "Blood's hard to clean up."_

_Anthony put his arm around his wife as they watched her walk upstairs. "At least she's here now. At least she's with family." _

_Letty lay in bed, listening for Grace and Anthony to close their bedroom door and shut off their light. She waited a few minutes after they did before she climbed out of bed and shook Mia awake. "Mia, wake up," she whispered. "We've gotta get my stuff. Go wake up your brother. Where's Vince?"_

"_What? Vince is in Dom's room. They're having a sleepover," Mia replied groggily before her eyes flew open. "Letty! You're home!" she whispered excitedly._

_Letty smiled broadly before digging in Mia's nightstand and pulling out two flashlights. "I need my stuff, Mia. Are you coming?"_

_It only took a few minutes for Mia to get Dom and Vince up, since they had already snuck downstairs to play video games. The boys were happy to get in on the adventure and the four of them slipped out the back door and ran down the street in pyjamas and bare feet._

_Letty was already an expert at breaking into her own house, easily sliding open an unlocked window and popping out the screen. She was the only one small enough to fit through the tiny window but she was only inside alone for a second before she appeared at the front door to let Mia, Dom, and Vince in. They all tiptoed into the house, none of them mentioning the blood trail leading into the living room. It had turned a dark, rusty colour but they all knew exactly what it was. They all averted their eyes as they walked past the living room towards the basement steps. None of them wanted to see the blood spattered walls or the carpet that still made a sick squishing sound when it was walked on._

_Mia, Dom, and Vince kept watch as Letty opened the closet door that was tucked behind the basement steps. She pulled out her only belongings: three matchbox cars, $7.39 in change, a napkin with her older brother's phone number written on it, and the three pictures of herself that she had – one each from her christening, her first day of school, and her first communion. She left behind the few clothes she had. Her first foster mother had taken her shopping and bought her a couple of outfits after the social worker explained that they hadn't been able to find any clothes at her parents' home that were in wearable condition._

_The four of them were silent as they walked slowly back to the Toretto's house and each made their way back to their respective beds. _

"_They're back," Grace Toretto whispered to her husband as she heard the back door shut. Anthony shook his head and took off the clothes he had been hurriedly putting on after checking on the kids and finding four empty beds. He climbed back into bed and sighed. "They'll be okay," his wife added as she laid her head on his chest. "They're in our house, they're all going to be okay."_


	19. Chapter 19

Thank you all so much for the reviews, I am so happy hearing what you all think of the story. I hope you like the next installment.

Plus I just want to say a quick thanks to Shawnied777 whose novels/reviews make me think about these characters and the story with way more depth than I imagined I could.

* * *

><p>Maldives, present<p>

Letty woke up to the sound of Dom snoring. She readjusted her pillow and pulled her blanket up to her shoulders to wrap it around herself, but she didn't go back to sleep. Instead she laid in her bed, alone, listening to the sound that had both interrupted her sleep and soothed her back to sleep since she was a kid. She had never met anyone who snored like Dom. He sounded like a dying dinosaur, always had. But the sound was so familiar that it was more comforting than annoying. Even when she was a little girl, sleeping at the Toretto's house to avoid her parents' fighting, the sound of Dom snoring permeated the air. It was the soundtrack to every safe night's sleep she had ever had.

She lay in bed for almost an hour before giving in to her bladder and tiptoeing into her bathroom. Usually she was as loud as possible when she got up in the morning, intentionally making enough of a racket that Dom would wake up and she could kick him out. This morning, though, she wanted to enjoy the familiar comfort of having him in her space before he woke up and she had to face reality. She knew he had been asking Leon about the scars on her legs. Leon and Anicka both had told her that much. She trusted that neither of them would say anything but even more than that she trusted Dom's ability to be as tenacious as a pitbull, even in the best of situations. And the day before, him seeing the scars on her legs and both of their reactions, had been far from that.

After she pulled on the sweatpants that she found laying on her bathroom floor Letty walked into her living room. She picked up the pile of Dom's wet clothes and tossed them in her laundry hamper before she went back into the living room and kneeled beside the couch.

"Dom?" she whispered, shaking his arm gently. "Come on, Dom, it's time to get up." She wasn't sure why she was being nice to him. It might have been a continuation of her good mood that morning or guilt over how upset he was the day before. Either way, she knew she didn't have it in her to wake him up with loud music or slamming cupboard doors and dropping cutlery.

Dom rubbed his eyes and smiled, surprised, as he woke up to Letty's face beside his. "Hey, baby," he whispered, still tired enough that he slipped into old routines. When her eyes darkened, just for a second, he remembered where he was and why. He wasn't supposed to call her baby anymore, she wasn't his anymore. But he smiled inwardly at the fact that she didn't correct him, just stood up and then curled up in the chair opposite him. "Time to go?" he asked with an easy smile.

"Yeap, time to go," she replied, returning his smile. She rolled her eyes as he got up and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, heading out her door with just that and his boxers.

As soon as he was out the door she ran her hands through her hair and cursed under her breath. She was getting too close to falling back into his arms and she knew it.

_Los Angeles, 1996_

_Dom woke up with aching muscles and a weight on his chest. Every bit of pain was erased from his mind, though, as he realised that there really was a weight on his chest: Letty. Her long hair was slick with sweat and his giant t-shirt was half off of one of her shoulders. He smiled contentedly and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head._

_Their fight the night before was easily the worst they had ever had. He knew he had been a mess in the week since he had gotten out of prison and he knew he had treated her awfully. When he first got home he hadn't been sure what would happen with her. Two years was a long time and he was sure they had both changed more than they realized. But that first night back in her bed made the two years apart feel like an instant and an eternity. The clincher, though, the thing that made him grasp that he loved her more than he had ever realized, was that she was stronger than him. When he couldn't figure out how to interact with his family after two years apart she forced him to face his issues head on. _

_They had screamed for nearly two hours, between the two of them breaking most of the things in Letty's room. He knew without her saying anything that he would be taking her shopping once she woke up. The floor was littered with the broken pieces of her lamp, the decorations from her room, and the picture frames from the hallway. He doubted there was much besides her clothes that were salvageable – her nightstand was overturned and one of her dresser drawers had a hole the size and shape of one of his boots in it. _

_After they had yelled for hours, though, arguing over everything that had been left unsaid for the past three years, they had been okay. They laid every issue they had on the table, screamed about them, and then moved on. All that mattered afterwards was agreeing that they would never leave each other, no matter what they had to deal with in the future._

_It wasn't until later that day, at a furniture store in the valley, that they got a chance to talk._

"_Why don't we just get one bedroom set?" Dom asked while Letty tested out every mattress she came across, refusing to let him buy one until she made sure she found the softest one._

"_Because I don't think you're going to be able to find a race car bed big enough for both of us?" she answered with a grin. _

"_Come on, I'm serious. You've been sleeping in my bed since you were sixteen. Wouldn't it be easier if it was __**our**__ bed?"_

"_Sure," Letty shrugged, smiling up at him. "That way Leon can have the basement to himself and Jesse can take whichever room we don't. They're a little old to be sharing, anyways. It's sort of creepy."_

"_Hey, speaking of Leon…" Dom started, rubbing his hand over his head and frowning. "You two are a lot closer than before I left, aren't you?" He had been noticing shoving and giggling and inside jokes since he got home and every time he did he had to resist the urge to punch one of his best friends. His suspicions grew every day that no one mentioned how close Leon and Letty obviously were._

"_Yeap." Letty agreed without volunteering any extra information._

"_How'd that happen?"_

"_Leon's my friend. He's your friend too." She sat up and then passed the price tag from the bed she was on to Dom, not so subtly informing him that she had made her choice and he really didn't have much say._

"_Yeah, he is. But you know what I'm asking."_

"_You and I weren't dating when you were gone. You don't get to ask for a play-by-play of my life without you and I don't want one of yours without me." She said simply, effectively ending the conversation._

_Dom grumbled inwardly at her non answer and realized that he probably wouldn't ever answer his question. He wasn't sure he agreed with her that he shouldn't get to know every detail of her life but he wasn't eager to start another fight with Letty. He'd known her long enough to know he would walk into one sooner or later._

Maldives, present

Letty and Dom had been getting along surprisingly well for the past week, enough that Leon and Anicka were getting used to them coming to the house to eat meals at the same time and even occasionally making small talk. They weren't at the point of spending a lot of time together but they could be in the same room without a fight which, excluding their awkward night time arrangement, was rare. They were in an even better mood that morning as the four adults and Tomas hung out on the beach, waiting for Brian, Mia, and Gracie to arrive for another visit.

When the boat carrying them arrived Letty was across the beach in seconds, her tackling Mia with a hug for a change. Everyone was still saying hello and unloading luggage from the boat when Letty and Mia disappeared, wandering down the beach.

"I still can't believe you're alive." Mia whispered after Letty had filled her in on the sleeping arrangements of the last month. "I never thought I'd hear you call Dom an asshole again. I actually missed the sound of you two fighting."

Letty laughed with just a bit of hardness behind her smile. "All we did was fight. Or glare at each other while we pretended we weren't fighting."

"Bullshit," Mia said too quickly, shaking her head adamantly. "Remember when you had mono but the garage was too busy for anyone to stay home with you so he put a bed in the office? And he had the guys pick up soup from the market every day at lunchtime."

"Half the time I'd fall asleep there and wake up in our bed at home."

"He'd make everyone stop working and turn off the stereo while he moved you to his car so you wouldn't wake up. You were so sick; I don't think he believed the doctor that it wasn't going to kill you. Or what about when you guys built your car? You were like a kid in a candy store at Harry's, picking everything you wanted."

"I don't think I pointed out anything at Harry's that didn't mysteriously appear at the garage within a couple of days," Letty admitted, laughing at the memory of her excitement over her first car. "All of the guys made fun of me for weeks when I said I wanted to paint it purple but one night I got home and there was a pile of paint chips on our bed. He got every shade of purple he could find because he wanted to make sure it was exactly the colour I wanted."

"He loves you, Lett. He always has and he always will." Mia said softly. "The day we left to come here was the first time I've seen him sober in months. It's like he's not even alive without you."

"Dom partying is nothing new, Mia. That doesn't mean it's about me."

"He wasn't partying, Lett. He was drinking tequila straight out of the bottle before he got out of bed. Han found him so fucked up in Berlin that he cracked his head open and puked all over himself. And I promise you, as someone who does his laundry a significant amount of the time, it wasn't the first time. He's lost without you."

"**He **left **me**, Mia. Why am I supposed to be sad that he's too weak to control himself when he's alone? I never wanted him to be alone but he was sure as hell okay with it every time he left me alone in another random fucking country!" Letty raged, turning to face the water so that Mia couldn't see her fighting tears. "I'm glad he's fucked up, he deserves it!"

Mia turned to face the water as well and dropped to the ground, sitting with her knees against her chest. She grabbed Letty's hand and pulled her down to sit on the sand as well. "What happened to you?" Mia whispered without letting go of her hand. "What changed?"

Letty was silent for a few minutes as she struggled to compose a lie her best friend wouldn't see right through. She moved her lips a few times but couldn't bring herself to tell Mia anything but the truth. So instead she spoke, letting the whole story pour out of her. Her words were matter of fact as she told Mia the events of her life since Fenix shot her, refusing to make eye contact as she shared the horrible details that not even Leon and Anicka knew. When she finally finished speaking she was exhausted, emotionally and physically.

"Oh Letty," Mia whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks as she saw how hard the closest person to a sister she had ever had was fighting to hide from the pain. "Does he know?"

Letty shook her head, still staring out at the water, her body tense.

"The first time I saw Brian, after we thought you were dead, I didn't think I could feel more hate for him than I did at that moment. It was worse when him and Dom started getting along again. Every time I looked at him I knew that I still loved him. I hated myself for loving him. I blamed him for everything that had happened and admitting that I loved him was like letting him off the hook for everything he did to us. But it wasn't, Letty. I could still be angry at him, angry at what he did, without pretending I didn't love him."

"So what, I'm supposed to tell Dom I'm pissed that he left me to get hurt and then get over it?" Letty asked through clenched teeth.

"No," Mia shook her head fiercely. "You're supposed to stop punishing yourself for still loving him. You're supposed to let yourself be happy, whether it's with him or without him. Don't hurt yourself because you want him to hurt too."

On the other side of the beach Leon patted Dom on the shoulder and nodded towards the two women. "If anyone is going to help her, it'll be your sister. Just don't give up on her, Dom. If you leave her again, I'll kill you myself."


	20. Chapter 20

**Ummm the end of this should probably be rated M. Maybe. I'm not really sure. It's only a little bit of sex. Hardly any sex at all.**

Maldives, present

Letty was sitting beside the bonfire alone, staring into the flames. Her plate of food sat, untouched, beside her. She smiled at everyone else talking and laughing while Dom barbequed and Anicka brought out a never ending stream of salads and snacks.

"You know, for the girl who used to eat more than me, your plate is full a lot more than it is empty." Brian said, dropping unceremoniously onto the sand beside her.

"Watching my girlish figure. Bathing suit season and all." Letty deadpanned.

"I'm not even going to comment."

"Scared of me?"

"Since the day I met you." Brian grinned, inwardly patting himself on the back for making her laugh. He was surprised when he heard it, she sounded so much like the Letty he met in Los Angeles. The one who was one of the guys, just as cocky and ridiculous as the rest of them. "Hey, I don't know what you were told or when. But Braga's in prison and Fenix is dead. Just thought you'd wanna know." He told her, turning to search her face for emotion.

"Good," she said with a nod. "How?"

"Dom. After you were – well, after you were gone, he lost it. Got a job as one of the drivers. Guy impaled Fenix with a fucking car." Brian laughed despite himself. "Sorry, shouldn't laugh. But seriously, he did."

"What happened with Fenix isn't your fault, Brian. Seriously. I'm a big girl, I made those decisions myself." Letty said quietly, noticing the frown on Brian's face when he mentioned her botched FBI mission.

"I shouldn't have brought you in."

"Yeah, you should have. If it hadn't happened you wouldn't have Mia back. She'd still be sitting alone in that house in L.A. hating you."

"I can't really argue with that. I never thought she would forgive me, never thought she'd love me again."

"She always loved you, Brian. She was miserable without you. It was like she was on autopilot. She cooked the same giant meals for just the two of us, cleaned the boys' rooms even though no one was there to mess them up. She's happy again with you here. Plus, without me working for Braga, you wouldn't have Gracie either. That kid is totally worth fake dying."

"Well thanks for fake dying, buddy." Brian said with a smile, putting his arm around her. "What about you, who has to fake die for you to be happy again?"

"I'll get there." She smiled softly, leaning into him for a second before she playfully shoved him away. "Go cuddle with Mia, you're creeping me out."

"Fuck you're charming," Brian laughed, messing up her hair as he stood up.

_Los Angeles, 2010_

_Brian smiled as he met Mia's eyes in her bathroom mirror. She was sitting cross legged in the sink, flat ironing her hair. Every time he looked around him he was amazed that he was back in the Toretto's house. He hadn't ever expected to be back but he had been living there since he and Dom brought Braga back from Mexico. Mia wasn't quick to forget anything but he knew she was gradually forgiving him for the things that were so far in the past._

"_It's going to be okay, right?" she asked, pulling him from his thoughts._

"_You planned it. You know that it is. Are you packed?" _

"_Yeah, everything is in my car." Before he could ask she added "I kept it to one bag, don't worry. Just some pictures, our parents' wedding rings. Little stuff."_

"_What about Letty's stuff?"_

"_She didn't really have stuff, Brian. Just some clothes and the stuff Dom already took. Actually, that's not entirely true." She smiled sadly and pulled an orange matchbox car out of her pocket and passed it to him. "There's two more. I've got one and I gave one to Tego & Santos. We've got to give them back to Dom but maybe they're good luck. You wouldn't believe the shit she survived when they were the only things she owned."_

Maldives, present

Letty had already showered off the campfire smell and changed into an oversized flannel shirt and boy shorts when Dom stomped into the house. He noted with a smile that the door was unlocked and shook his head at her sitting on the counter with a stack of cookies and a beer mug full of milk.

"What are you pouting about?" she asked with a smirk.

"I'm not pouting." He grumbled, flopping down on the couch. "Can't you eat your cookies somewhere else? I'm going to sleep."

"It's my house. I'll eat my cookies where I want to eat my cookies. And, yes, you are pouting. I've known you my whole life. I know what it looks like when you pout." Letty said triumphantly, hopping off the counter and curling up in the chair opposite him.

"Letty just go to bed." Dom readjusted the pillow behind his head and closed his eyes. He waited a few seconds and sighed when she didn't move. He opened one eye and glared at her.

"I can see why you thought that would work. Telling me what to do usually goes so well for you. Come on, just tell me why you're acting like a baby. Then we can both go to sleep and I don't have to wonder if you're out here crying on my couch."

"Hilarious, Letty. Seriously, you're fucking hilarious."

"Why are you mad at me, what is your problem? You're pissy for a month that I don't want to talk to you and then when I do you get pissed off about that too? You're such a fucking girl."

She had already stood up to go to bed when he spoke. "You talk to everyone but me. Leon and Anicka obviously know what's wrong with you, why you're covered in scars and take enough pills to kill a horse every day. You go for big long walks with Mia and have cute heart-to-hearts with Brian by the campfire. But I try to talk to you and you won't even look at me. I know I fucked up by leaving. But I'm here. I've been here every single day since I found you. Why doesn't that count for anything?" Dom's eyes bore into her as he spoke, his tone turning from angry to pleading.

"That's just it, Dom. None of them left me. Leon and Anicka took me in when I showed up on their doorstep. And Brian got me in with Braga, helped me make a deal to clear your name so you could come home. They've all given me every reason to trust them. You haven't." She said softly. She started to say something else but thought better of it and trailed off, refusing to make eye contact.

"What, Letty? Talk to me," he begged, standing up off the couch to pull her into his arms. "I can't change that I left, but you've gotta let me try."

"I don't want you to look at me differently. It's so much easier to hate you than to tell you the truth." She whispered, resting her forehead on his chest so that she didn't have to meet his eyes.

_Los Angeles, 1993_

_Dom sighed contentedly as he watched Letty wiggle into her too-tight jeans. Beads of sweat glistened on her chest and her hair was wild. She rolled her eyes at him appraising her while she struggled to tame it into a braid. _

"_Your dad's gonna be home in any minute." She told him, throwing a pillow at his head. "Where the hell is my shirt?" _

"_About that…" he said, smiling sheepishly and holding up a tank top that was torn down the front, top to bottom._

"_Seriously, Dom?" she laughed. "That was like my one clean shirt."_

"_Sorry? There's gotta be something in the laundry room." He tossed her his own t-shirt. "Here, go check. Meet me in the shower?" he grinned lecherously. _

"_If you're lucky. And if no one is home."_

_Letty slid Dom's shirt over her head and ran down the stairs into the living room. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Anthony in the living room, still taking off his boots while Mia chattered happily to him, telling him about her birthday party. She conveniently left out a few details and her eyes went wide as she looked at Letty walking into the room. Mia nodded almost imperceptibly towards the stack of folded laundry on the chair beside her and Letty grabbed the first hoodie on the pile._

_Anthony probably would have missed the brief exchange between the two girls and the shirt that Letty was obviously trying to hide if he hadn't had a house full of teenagers for the past eight years. He stood up and pulled Letty into a hug, whispering so that only she could hear. "It's Monday, you're supposed to be at the garage. When he gets out of the shower, why don't you ask Dom to drive you."_

_Letty's cheeks burned as she went upstairs to grab her coveralls. Just like every other time she got in trouble, she had no idea how Anthony knew what she was up to, but he always did. She smiled a wicked grin as she ducked into the bathroom and flushed the toilet before continuing to her room._

Maldives, present

Letty gave up on talking, knowing she wouldn't be able to explain anything without Dom losing it. She knew she was going to have to answer his questions but knew she wanted a night in his arms first. She needed at least one night where she was just her, instead of the mess he would eventually figure out that she was. She tilted her head up to meet his eyes and stood on her toes to kiss him gently.

"I'm still mad at you," she whispered into his neck as he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

He carried her into her room and laid her gently on her bed, climbing on top of her before answering. "I know," he said softly before kissing her again.

It was a few minutes before he pulled away, resting on his forearms so that he could stare down at her. He searched her face, looking for some trace of the angry woman he had found a month ago. But she wasn't there, all he saw was the teenage girl he fell in love with the day she walked back into his garage and back into his life.

Letty's mind was blank as he stared down at her, unmoving. It took her a few seconds before she realized he was scared to touch her. "Dom, it's okay," she whispered, meeting his eyes. "I'm okay."

His breath caught in his throat as he slowly unbuttoned the oversized flannel shirt she was wearing, never breaking eye contact. He waited to see if she would give him a sign that he needed to stop and silently prayed she wouldn't. He was anxious and relaxed at the same time. With every button he flinched inwardly, terrified at what other scars he would discover. Every inch of her that had ever been hurt was a reminder of what he had done by leaving her. He didn't know what sort of pain she had been through but he was confident that he could have prevented it by staying every time she begged him to. At the same time, though, he was overwhelmed by the amount of relief he felt. He had thought for almost two years that he would never see her again and now she was back where she was meant to be. She had been in his arms since she was a kid. He knew she was made to be there.

It wasn't until she slid her arms out of her shirt that he saw what she had been hiding behind long sleeved shirts since after the day he arrived and saw her in a bathing suit. He traced his lips over his collarbone and shoulder, kissing as much of the scars, obviously never properly healed, as he could. His mind was fuzzy as he looked at the mangled skin and he fought the urge to ask her if she usually got her medical work done in the back of a van.

"It's not as bad as it looks," she said quietly, reading his thoughts. "Those ones healed a long time ago."

Dom nodded, understanding the pleading look in her eyes. He knew it wasn't the time to ask about her scars but struggled to keep quiet. He needed to know why she was so hurt and he wasn't sure that his need to be in her arms could trump that.

He continued to kiss down her stomach, sliding his hands under her to hook his fingers into the back of her shorts and slide them off of her.

"Feeling kind of exposed here," she whispered, smirking. "Wanna help me out here and lose some clothes?"

He was quick to obey, tossing his clothes in a pile on the floor before resting on his arms above her and pulling a sheet over them. He was only there for a second before she draped her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. She wrapped one leg around his waist and bit her lip, grimacing as she guided him into her.

"Jesus, Lett," he groaned, burying his face in her neck. "You're so – "

"Stitches. I haven't had sex since… the doctor at the emergency room said it was 16 stitches," she whispered, interrupting him.

Dom pushed himself up on his elbows and looked down at her, brow furrowed. "Why the fuck did you have stitches there?" his mind raced and he struggled to stay calm. "Is that what those burns are from, too? They're cigarette burns, aren't they? Did someone - who the fuck - what the fuck happened to you?" he managed to spit out.

"Dom, don't. Please." She pleaded. She moaned softly, visibly in pain, as he hurried to get off of her. She watched him grab his pants off the floor and pull them on. She winced as he slammed the bathroom door and she heard his fist go through the wall before he turned on the shower.


	21. Chapter 21

Maldives, present

Letty lay in bed for a minute, squeezing her eyes shut so she wouldn't cry. She felt nauseous and her head pounded as she cursed herself for her stupidity. She knew that Dom needed to find out what happened eventually but the way he did was so far beyond unfair to him. Realizing what she needed to do, and what she needed from him, she sat up and pulled her shirt back on, wrapping it around herself as she walked into the bathroom.

"Dom?" she called out cautiously, watching his body tense even more on the other side of the shower curtain. "Dom, I'm sorry. I didn't want to tell you like that. I didn't want to tell you at all. It's just… I just couldn't lie to you. Not like that."

"So you don't want to tell me what happened to you but you'll have sex with me? Awesome." He said, ducking his head under the water to try to prevent himself from saying anything more.

"I'm not good at this, okay?" she said quietly, hugging herself nervously and staring at the floor when he pulled back the shower curtain enough to look at her while she spoke. "The scars are bad, the injuries were bad. I was in the hospital for a while, until I woke up. Broken bones, burns, and… everything else. The pills are for post traumatic stress disorder."

"How could you do that? How could you tell me like that?" he asked quietly. The pain and anger was etched on his face as he watched her speak, unwilling to make a move towards her.

"It just came out. I'm so tired of hiding everything from you. When you were gone it was okay, I could hate you. But I've never been around you without you being mine. I just wanted that back for a night."

"You don't get to have it back for a night, that's not how life fucking works. I'm here every fucking day because I love you and I would die to get you back. I am yours, I always have been. You're the stubborn asshole who won't let me in," he raged, refusing to acknowledge how she flinched as soon as he raised his voice. "Why can't you let me help you?"

"I don't need your fucking help, Dominic," she yelled back, his anger making her instantly defensive. "I have Leon and Anicka, I don't fucking need you. I don't miss you."

"Fuck that you don't. You wouldn't let me in your house every night if you didn't miss me. You wouldn't kiss me. And you sure as fuck wouldn't put on a big show of acting like you hate me. Don't be such a fucking child. Just tell me why you won't let me help me you." He watched her fight her emotions, trying to avoid crumbling in front of him. His heart broke as he watched her, wondering if he had gone too far. She had the same look on her face as she did when she was a kid, showing up at the Toretto's back door beat to hell but refusing to tell anyone why.

"I needed to blame someone," she whispered after a long pause, shrugging as she finally met his eyes. "You left me alone. It was easy to convince myself that none of it would have happened if you were with me."

"Because it wouldn't have. You're right, you would have been safer with me." Dom stared at her, his anger dissolving as he saw the terrified look on her face. He realized she really hadn't ever intended on him finding her.

"You don't know that and neither do I." She shook her head fiercely. "You shouldn't have left me once, let alone three times. But you didn't know that anything was going to happen to me. I put myself in the situations that got me hurt, I know that."

Dom frowned but knew there wasn't anything left to say, at least for now. Instead he stepped out of the shower and slid her shirt off of her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. Her body tensed as he took her hand and pulled her towards the shower but she let him lift her easily over the side of the tub. He watched curiously for a second as she switched positions with him, turning so that she didn't let a single drop of water touch her face.

Letty shook as she leaned her head on Dom's chest. The warm water only poured down her back for a second before he wrapped his arms around her, blocking her from all but the slightest mist. She wasn't sure if the tears on her face were hers or his as she started to talk, letting every detail of Kazimir's attack pour out of her. She told him everything she remembered and everything that Anicka & Leon told her that the doctors discovered. She didn't pause, didn't hesitate, because she knew if she stopped talking she wouldn't be able to start again. It wasn't until she finally finished her story that she looked up to meet his eyes. She winced as she saw the rage written on his face but as soon as his eyes met hers they softened and she exhaled with relief.

"No one is going to get near you ever again, baby. I'm never going to leave you again," he whispered, pressing his lips against her forehead. "But we're not having sex tonight."

"Good," she said quietly, laughing despite herself. "Cause that really fucking hurt."

_Czech Republic, 2011_

_When Letty woke up all she was aware of was pain. She couldn't pinpoint a single part of her body that didn't scream out as she tried to sit up. She struggled to open her eyes as they protested against the bright fluorescent lights surrounding her. _

"_Letty?" she heard a voice say. "Oh my god, she's awake! Nurse? I need a nurse!"_

_In an instant there were people surrounding her: two nurses and a doctor barking orders in Czech, along with Anicka right beside her. She struggled to speak but her throat felt like sandpaper and her lips cracked as soon as she tried to move them. She felt blood trickle slowly down her chin before Anicka dabbed at it lightly with a Kleenex._

"_Don't talk," Anicka said softly, brushing the hair out of Letty's face. "You're still intubated, the nurses are going to take out your breathing tube now, okay?"_

_Before Letty could react she was coughing and gagging while the nurse slowly slid the tube out. Her body ached with the effort of coughing but she felt immediate relief when she drew a proper breath into her lungs. "Water?" she mouthed, though no sound came out._

_Anicka raised her eyebrows at the doctor, who nodded before leaving the room. Anicka picked up a cup of ice water along with a sponge and dabbed Letty's mouth gently. Once the last nurse left the room she leaned in close and whispered in Letty's ear. "Leon's on his way up. We need to get you out of here before the police come to question you. It's going to hurt but we're going to get you up and into that wheelchair. We've got all of the prescriptions you need and one of the nurses is going to come to the house in a few days to check on you, but right now we've gotta go."_

_Letty nodded as much as she could without causing herself too much pain and let Anicka help her sit up in the bed. She looked down at her bandage-wrapped thighs as she swung her legs over to hang off of the bed. It wasn't until she saw her reflection in the mirror, the cuts and bruises covering the bit of skin the bandages left visible, that her mind started reeling. For a second she was a little girl again, the injuries coming from her father looking for money during a binge or from her mother beating on the only person that had even less power and control than her. But the searing pain between her legs jolted her back to reality and she remembered every awful detail of what Kazimir and his men had done to her. She struggled to remain sitting upright as she turned her head to the side and threw up bile, the only thing left in her stomach, all over her hospital bed._

"_Fuck am I happy to see you," Leon grinned as he walked into the room. He kissed her on the top of the head and ignored the vomit beside her. "Hate to make this brief but we've gotta go, baby."_

_Anicka smiled and nodded her agreement as she pushed the wheelchair as close to Letty's bed as she could and held it steady as Leon gingerly lifted her off the bed and onto the chair. In an instant Anicka produced large sunglasses and a dark red wig from her bag, putting them on Letty before wrapping a black blanket around her. _

_The three of them were in their SUV and on their way home before the police officers reached Letty's hospital room. The doctor and both nurses feigned ignorance, each happily pocketing a significant amount of money and understanding that Letty's safety depended on a lack of police involvement._

"_How bad?" Letty whispered hoarsely, shocking Leon and Anicka. They had both been sure she was asleep from the time they left the hospital. They shared a look, Leon grimacing and shaking his head. He loved Letty but he couldn't be part of this conversation. He wasn't sure if it was for her sake or for his, but he pleaded silently with Anicka for her to be the one to speak._

_Anicka climbed into the back seat, sitting on the edge of the bench that Letty was lying on. "Your face is mostly cuts and bruises, there were some stitches for your split lip and a cut above your right eye but they're out now. Your left ear has some damage from being hit in the head with something. It'll heal but your hearing might be kind of fucked up for a couple months. Your wrists and ankles have pretty deep cuts, probably from handcuffs. There are some random stitches for the worst parts but we'll cut them out in a few days. Four broken ribs, some broken fingers and toes." Anicka stopped to watch Letty. Her face was expressionless but her eyes were squeezed shut._

"_The rest." Letty said simply, without moving. She remembered at least some of what had happened and she could feel her injuries but she needed to know exactly what was wrong with her. From the front seat Leon cringed, grateful that he wasn't the one having this conversation._

"_Cigarette burns." Anicka added, reaching out to lace her fingers with Letty's. "On your thighs and the bottom of your feet. And, um, the stitches. The doctor in the emergency room said there were 16, but they'll dissolve once you've healed more."_

"_Jesus." Letty managed, frowning as she finally met Anicka's eyes."That bad?"_

"_Bad." Anicka confirmed. "Do you remember?"_

"_Some." Letty started to say more but instead she let her eyes close and was asleep for real in seconds._

"_She'll be okay." Anicka said softly to Leon as she climbed back into the passenger seat. "She's coming home now."_

"_I'm gonna kill him." Leon muttered, knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel. _

"_I know." His wife patted his leg and leaned over to kiss him. _

"_I didn't mean Kazimir," he said through gritted teeth. "I mean, I am gonna kill him. But I meant Dom. She wouldn't be getting cocky, pulling stupid jobs, if he was here. He's supposed to take care of her, Anicka."_

"_Not your fight, babe. She can blame him if she needs to. You just need to find him and give her the chance."_

Maldives, present

Brian and Leon each kissed their wives and kids before leaving them to finish breakfast and headed outside.

"Do Dom and Letty usually sleep in this late?" Brian asked, nodding towards Letty's house.

"God, no. She usually kicks him out by, like, six. Maybe seven. I've never seen them stay in there this late." Leon said, mild concern furrowing his brow.

"Maybe they made up?"

"Or maybe she finally killed him."

"Yeah that sounds about right. Weapons?"

"She's got a gun in there but I feel like she'd make him suffer more. She's always been kinda twisted."

Brian laughed but before he could respond they both heard the roar of a motor and walked further down the beach to the boat that had just arrived. Han, Giselle, Tego, and Santos hopped over the side of the boat and hurried to greet them. Brian quickly introduced Leon to Tego and Santos, explaining that they had been in Brazil as well. Leon nodded, remembering Letty's stories about them in the Dominican Republic.

It took a few minutes for all of their luggage to get unloaded and then the group made their way up to Leon & Anicka's house. Everyone piled into the large kitchen as Mia and Anicka started dishing up a second round of breakfast.

"So where are Dom and Letty?" Han asked once everyone was sitting around the table with a full plate.

"Haven't woken up yet." Leon said simply, glancing out the window towards Letty's still quiet house.

Tego and Santos laughed, unsurprised after spending a couple of months with them in the Dominican. It was only when everyone else filled them in on the basics of the last few months that they both got the same concerned look as everyone else.

"That girl's terrifying," Santos admitted. "You think he's dead?"

"It's crossed our minds," Brian nodded before Tego interrupted.

"Yo, you're so negative. Maybe they made up."

Everyone else around the table laughed in disbelief, rolling their eyes and shaking their heads at Tego.

"Uh, guys? Tego might be right." Han said, gesturing out the window towards Letty's front porch. They all watched in disbelief as Dom kissed Letty on her front porch before she pushed him away, laughing, and went back into her house alone.

Tego grinned triumphantly and finished his coffee while everyone else watched Dom walk back to the guest house, looking over his shoulder as if to make sure no one was watching.


	22. Chapter 22

Maldives, present

Letty was only in her house for a few minutes after Dom left. She put away their cereal bowls and brushed her teeth before crossing the beach to Leon & Anicka's house. She cringed inwardly the second she let out a girlish squeal and tackled Tego.

"Oh my god, when did you guys get here!" she asked before pulling away and hugging Santos.

"Did anyone else notice that dying turned Letty into a girl?" Han muttered so that only Brian and Mia could hear. They both laughed and nodded their agreement as Tego put his arm around her and they walked outside.

"I've got something for you," Tego said with a grin s they sat down on the beach.

"**I've** got something for her," Santos corrected, sitting down on the other side of her.

"Aye, you always have to be like this, don't you?" Tego said, shaking his head. "Fine, **we** have something for you."

Santos made a face at Tego before producing a green matchbox car from his pocket and passing it to Letty. He smiled sheepishly as she stared at him, eyes wide.

"How did you get this?" she whispered, running her fingers over one of her only childhood possessions. Her eyes searched their faces as she looked between the two of them, smiling disbelievingly.

"Mia." Santos said simply before Tego continued the story. The two of them talked over each other as they told her about Mia calling them, convincing them to help her hijack Dom's prison transport.

"I always knew she'd turn out to be just as much of a criminal as the rest of us." Letty laughed before she got up and walked away, tucking her newfound possession in her pocket.

_Los Angeles, 1984_

_Mia was only eight but she already knew what the soft knock at the back door was when she heard it. It was the same knock that she heard at least once a week. When she opened the door Letty was standing there, her face bloodied but her expression defiant._

"_So what'd you do?" were the first words out of Mia's mouth once she had passed Letty half of her stack of cookies and the two girls went into the basement to watch Muppet Babies. _

"_My mom caught me stealing." Letty said with a shrug, producing a shiny green matchbox car from her pocket. "It's cool, though." she added, grinning._

"_You're stupid. How is that car worth going to school with your nose all messed up tomorrow? It's picture day!"_

"_Fine, then I guess these weren't worth it either," Letty said nonchalantly, pulling a set of sparkly red barrettes out of her pocket and dangling them in front of Mia. _

"_Oh, Letty, they're perfect!" Mia gushed, grabbing them out of her surrogate sister's hands before Letty could take them back._

"_See? I'm only a criminal until I get something you want too."_

"_Shut up, Letty. Come on, let's put these in my room before my parents see them and I get in trouble too. Plus you know my mom's going to make you clean your face up. I think she got you some clothes for pictures tomorrow too."_

_Letty frowned, showing her displeasure at the idea of new clothes. Inwardly, though, she smiled. As much as she hated picture day, she at least knew that her new clothes would be from the boy's department. Mrs. Toretto didn't let the girls get away with much, but she did let Letty be herself. The two girls ran up the stairs giggling, sticking their tongues out at Dom and Vince as they went past Dom's bedroom._

Maldives, present

Leon walked into his kitchen after saying goodnight to everyone who was still sitting around the campfire. The day had nearly brought him to his boiling point as he watched everyone behave like normal, including Dom and Letty. They didn't interact with each other at all, obviously unaware that everyone had seen them kissing on her porch that morning. Anicka had tried to calm him down every time they spoke but he was on edge the whole day. He wasn't sure if he was angrier that Letty had clearly forgiven Dom or that they were stupid enough to think that they could hide it. He watched Dom dig in the fridge for a few seconds before he spoke. "What the fuck are you doing?" he asked, frowning at Dom.

"Uh, going to bed? Letty's got nothing but junk food." Dom replied, holding out his hands. "Why, you already stake your claim over the leftover chicken? You're looking pretty upset about the chicken, brother."

"What are you doing with Letty? No one's stupid, we can see you guys, the way you act. She doesn't hate you anymore."

"We're figuring shit out." Dom shrugged, not as confused about Leon's questions as he pretended to be.

"Dom she's a mess. You can't just pick up where you left off and expect her to be okay."

"This isn't any of your business, Leon. I know you guys have been good to her but she's my girlfriend, this is my shit to deal with."

"You know what? Fuck you, Dom. This is entirely my fucking business." Leon hissed, clenching his fists to keep himself from yelling and waking up the whole house. "You didn't find her beat to shit in a fucking warehouse, I did. I'm the one who sat in the hospital with her every day, waiting to see if she'd even wake up. When she was in shock but they had to keep her awake to stitch her up after she was raped I was the one holding her fucking hand, not you."

Dom opened his mouth to speak, his defensiveness growing, but Leon cut him off and continued.

"How many times have you had to hold her hand while she showered because she's terrified to be alone in there and then tried to convince her that it's not the most humiliating experience of her life? You don't know shit about what needs to be dealt with, Dom. You don't know what medication she's on or who her doctors are. You don't know shit because you left her."

Leon was shocked when, instead of fighting back, Dom sank to the floor. "You think I don't know that?" he asked quietly, looking up at Leon. "I left her alone because she was the strongest person I've ever met. I thought that my being with her was going to put her in so much danger that she'd lose that."

"How could you think that? You know her. You're supposed to love her, you've loved her since we were kids. So how could you not know that being away from you was going to break her?" Leon sat on the floor as well, sighing as he struggled to find compassion for Dom through his anger. "I didn't try to get you here so that you would get back together. I honestly thought she'd tell you to fuck yourself and it would help her move on. I wouldn't have sent the messages if I thought she'd let you stay."

"I'm not going to leave her again, Leon."

"You told her that when you got out of prison. Remember? She was so happy. She said you promised you would never be apart again. No matter what happened you would do whatever it took so that she would never be alone again."

"I thought I was protecting her."

"She just wanted you to love her." Leon rubbed his hands over his head. He stood and started to walk away but turned around and spoke again instead. "She's safe here. She smiles. It took a long fucking time to see her smile again. If you're gonna fuck that up just go now so I can start getting her healthy again."

_Los Angeles, 1995_

_Everyone in the garage was tense. They always were when Letty was having a day like this. She was on edge, alternating between losing her temper over the tiniest thing and hiding in the office. Vince was close to killing her the second time she threw some of his tools and Jesse was pouting while he sat in the car Vince was working on, banished from the office while she was in there. They both gave Leon a meaningful look and Vince nodded towards the office. Leon sighed and stalked towards the office, crashing through the door and getting in Letty's face._

"_Let's go," he said authoritatively, grabbing her wrist. _

"_Fuck off, Leon," she spat, pulling her arm away and moving to shut the door on him._

"_I'm not kidding. Get in your car, get in my car, I don't fucking care. But we're going for a drive before Vince or Jesse kills you."_

_Letty rolled her eyes angrily but stepped around hi, stalking off to sit in the passenger seat of his car. _

_Leon drove aimlessly for close to half an hour, eventually ending up at a random beach they had never been to. He parked the car and then turned to her, realizing that waiting for her to speak was not an effective strategy._

"_You've gotta calm down, Lett. You're driving everyone crazy." He told her, realizing as the words came out of his mouth that delicacy was not his strong suit. "I mean… shit, just tell me what's wrong. You can't be this miserable all the time."_

"_He told me he loved me," she said quietly, not making eye contact. "After Harry pulled him off Linder and we were waiting for the cops. He told me he loved me."_

"_He does love you. He always has."_

"_But he doesn't show it. He tells me he loves me and then he cheats on me or he tells me when he's scared because he's about to go to prison. It's fucked."_

"_Just cause he loves you doesn't mean you have to be with him. Look, I know you care about him. But loving someone isn't always enough." Leon sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fuck I sound like a girl. I'm not telling you what to do, I'm just saying there are lots of people who care about you and want to be in your life. If Dom can't be that right now, you have to figure out another way to be happy."_

"_Thanks, Leon" Letty replied, leaning over to rest her head on his shoulder._

"_No problem. But seriously, next time, have this talk with Mia. Your feelings gross me out."_


	23. Chapter 23

Thank you so much for all of the reviews. I love hearing what you all think about the story and where it's going to go. I hope you like the next chapter :)

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><p>Maldives, present<p>

Mia left Gracie and Brian sleeping and went to see Letty as soon as she saw Dom leave in the morning. She knocked softly at the door before letting herself in. She smiled at how comfortable Letty's little house was, noting that the decorations were eerily similar to their house in Los Angeles, right down to the candles and pictures everywhere.

"Since when do you knock? You just left." Letty yelled, walking out of her bedroom in a towel. "Oh, shit, hey Mia. Gimme a sec, I'll put pants on."

Mia helped herself to a cup of coffee and sat on Letty's couch, picking up a picture of the two of them as kids. She smiled, remembering the trouble they used to get into, as she waited. After a few minutes Letty came back into the room in shorts and a tank top, wet hair plastered to her back. Mia smiled at the change in Letty even over the past six weeks. She was less defensive, quicker to smile. Mia wondered how much of that was having her family back and how much was having Dom back.

"Sorry," Letty said as she sat down on the other side of the couch, grinning sheepishly. "I thought you were Dom."

"I waited until he left," Mia shrugged. "So what's going on with you two anyways? How come you're only back together inside of your house? Kissing on your front porch isn't real subtle."

"Wow, cut right to the chase, hey? We're not back together, we're just… fuck, I dunno. I really wanted to hate him, Mia. But you were right. I'm miserable without him."

"Yeap, you are. Always have been. You were a bitch and a half those three years you guys were broken up."

"Wow, thanks. Always here to remind me why I love you, hey?"

"Always." Mia grinned broadly. "So seriously, why don't you guys want anyone to know?"

"I'm a mess and it scares me. I can't be back to normal just because he wants to pretend the last few years never happened. So until we figure out what us being together looks like, or if it's going to work, this is just easier. Besides, Leon's gonna be pissed."

"Leon will survive. He's used to being the one saving you when Dom won't. He's entitled to being upset that you're letting Dom in again, but he'll get over it. It's not going to change how much he loves you."

"Thanks, Mia," Letty said before giving her a devilish grin. "So, I heard you're giving in to your criminal tendencies without me around. Hijacked a prison transport bus and knocked over a cop shop? You're somebody's mother, shouldn't you be at Mommy & Me class?"

Mia laughed and choked on her coffee. "You've been a horrible influence on me since we were kids" she sputtered. "I was just trying to live up to your example. I have something for you, though."

Letty smiled as she took the blue car that Mia held out to her. "Thanks, Mia. For everything."

"Brian's got the last one. He said you had to go talk to him if you want it back." Mia added before she turned on the tv.

"I sort of figured he'd say that," Letty sighed.

"It's kinda weird, you two being friends."

"Yeah, you're telling me. He's a good guy, Mia. I'm glad he got you back."

_Los Angeles, 2009_

_Letty and Brian were in a nondescript, completely empty garage. It had been part of a sting operation a few months back so once the police took it over Brian started using it to meet the undercover operatives associated with the Braga case. He made sure that none of them were ever there at the same time, but he was extra cautious whenever he was meeting Letty there._

"_The tracking device is installed in the car. I put the one from your cellphone in there too so if you get away from your car no one can track you by your phone, okay? At the very least, if things go bad, it'll give you a head start." Brian said quietly, studying Letty's face as she checked over the car herself._

"_Thanks, Brian. I owe you one." She said, smiling sadly. Her face fell, though, and she turned and made a dash for the bathroom. Brian cringed as he listened to her empty her stomach._

_He stared at her suspiciously when she returned a few minutes later, clutching a bottle of water. "What's with you?" he asked, eyeing her._

"_I'm fine. It's just nerves."_

"_I've seen you do some dangerous shit. But I've never seen you nervous, let alone throwing up before" He stared hard at her, wishing her could read her mind. In the few weeks since Letty had contacted him she wasn't ready to tell him much about her life but she was always honest about how much she wanted Dom to come back. _

_She exhaled and avoided eye contact, looking past him at her car when she spoke. "Brian I think I'm pregnant." _

"_Are you fucking kidding me? Letty you can't do this if you're pregnant. It's dangerous! What if you wreck your car or worse?"_

"_I said I __**think**__ I'm pregnant. Don't start buying diapers yet O'Connor."_

"_Well did you take a test?" he asked, raking his hands through his hair while his mind raced. He couldn't let her put herself in danger if she was pregnant but he was all too aware that he didn't have anyone left who could drive well enough to get in with Braga. _

"_I'll take one when we're done. When Dom's home."_

"_You can't just not know, Letty. You have to find out. Now."_

"_Drop it, Brian. When Dom's home I'll take the test. I can't do this right now. I can't have his baby without him. I won't. If I'm pregnant then I'll find out when he's home so that the hypothetical baby has a father. Until then there's nothing I can do but try and get him back here." She stared hard at him and knew she won as soon as he passed her the keys to her car and pulled her into a tight hug._

_"Be careful. Wear your seatbelt or I'll kill you myself."._

Maldives, present

When Dom walked into Letty's house it was already dark out but she was still up, sitting on the couch with a stack of cookies. He shook his head at her ridiculous eating habits and then flopped down on the couch beside her, wishing he had been able to just crawl into bed and fall asleep beside her like the last two nights.

"You keep looking so happy to see me and you can sleep on the couch again," she joked, frowning when he didn't return her smile.

"I talked to Leon last night." He said simply, turning to see her reaction.

"Oh, good, the bi-annual 'why are you and Leon so close' talk. You know, Dom, of all of the things I missed when we weren't together, these are right up there."

"I'm not trying to start a fight, Letty." He sighed, rubbing his hands over his head. "He reamed me out over everything that happened to you, everything that I wasn't there to protect you from or help you deal with. And he was right. Everything he said about me and the things that I should have been doing instead of him were true."

"What do you want me to say, Dom? Of course he's right. I was alone because you decided you knew better than me and I got hurt." She said through gritted teeth. "He brought you here, not me."

"He told me he didn't contact me to get us back together, he did it so that you would get closure and be done with me."

"Leon's scared, Dom," she answered quietly. "He's seen at my worst; he's seen me totally broken. They didn't know if I would ever wake up. He isn't trying to get you to leave; he's making sure that you won't."

"I'm not going to hurt you again. I love you and I can't live without you. I've tried and I can't. I need you to be whole."

"I know you think that, Dom. But you did hurt me, even when you thought you were protecting me. We used to be a team. I don't know what changed to make you think that you were the only one capable of making decisions for this family." Letty pulled her knees to her chest and hugged her legs, cursing the tears forming in her eyes as she thought about every other time she had cried over him.

"When we were kids my dad used to tell me that you were just as much my family as Mia was, that it was my job to protect you just like he expected me to protect her. But he always said that you needed me more than she did. He said that Mia would start her own family one day and move on, but as tough as you were, you were always going to need me."

"I guess he was right," she shrugged, avoiding eye contact so that he wouldn't see the sadness in her eyes. She remembered a similar talk she had with Anthony when she and Dom broke up the first time. He had assured her that one day Dom would grow up and realize that he wasn't himself without her because she was the only person that would ever be able to make him answer for the things he did. "I do need you. But I don't trust you. I want to, but every time I look at you I'm too scared to tell you anything because I don't know how long it's going to take before you decide to protect me by taking off again."

"I'm never going to leave you again. I don't know how to make you or anyone else believe it, but I'm not gonna stop trying." He paused, taking her hand before quietly adding "I'm not going anywhere, Letty."


	24. Chapter 24

So sorry this one took so much longer to get up - my house is full of family and I haven't been able to get near my computer.

Thank you all for the reviews and sweet notes, I really appreciate them.

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><p>Maldives, present<p>

Letty stood in the doorway of the guest room Brian & Mia were staying in, smiling softly as she watched Brian whisper to his daughter. Gracie's dark curls were slick with sweat and her eyes were unfocused as he tried to settle her back to sleep. It wasn`t until he looked up and saw her watching that Letty crossed the threshold into the small bedroom and held her hands out towards him.

"I hear you've got something of mine." Letty said to Brian, smiling as she took Gracie from him. She cooed at the baby, brushing the dark hair out of Gracie's eyes and humming softly.

He nodded and smiled, placing the third matchbox car on the guest room's dresser as he watched Letty rock her to sleep. "You're good at that" he whispered as she laid the sleeping baby in her crib.

"Nah, Mia's good at it. I just copy what she does. Without the boobs." She grinned at him before she laid a blanket over Gracie's sleeping form and tucked a stuffed lamb beside her. She picked up the orange car and slipped it in to her pocket without looking at it, hoping she could make a quick exit.

"So?" Brian said, interrupting her plan when he moved to lean against the door frame and prevent her from leaving.

"So what?" Letty asked, trying to avoid meeting his eyes.

"Seriously? You have no idea what I'm gonna ask you about?"

Letty sighed and pulled the car back out of her pocket, fidgeting with it for a minute before answering. "There's no baby, Brian. I'm not hiding a kid in my pantry or anything, okay?"

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I didn't get a chance to take a test until I got to the Czech Republic, right before I went to stay with Leon and Anicka. It was negative." She shrugged, staring at her hands. "Either I wasn't pregnant to begin with or I lost the baby when I flipped the car and Fenix shot me."

"No one at the hospital said anything?"

"I didn't go to a hospital. I got stitched up by a veterinarian in Mexico. Their post-op care isn't quite the same as at home."

"Fuck. I'm sorry, Letty. You shouldn't have gone through any of that shit alone. If I'd known you were alive I could have helped."

"Don't be sorry. It's not like Dom and I should ever have a kid anyways. We're fuck-ups and you know it. We aren't like you and Mia, we never were." She said quietly, willing the tears in her eyes to go away.

"Letty – " Brian started before she cut him off.

"It's in the past, Brian. We've talked about this before. If you knew I was alive then nothing else would've happened the way it did. And a lot of what happened was good. Just promise me you won't tell anyone, okay? Not even Mia. Just let me keep one secret. I don`t need anyone knowing that Dom and I couldn`t even get having a baby right."

He opened his mouth to argue but shut it again when she saw the sadness in her eyes. Instead he nodded and stepped aside to let her walk past him. He watched her go, raking his hand through his hair and frowning. He wanted to call out to her, get her to come back to he could convince her to at least talk to Mia. He had known her long enough to know he couldn't do that, though. Instead he watched until she was out of sight before he went back into the bedroom and kissed Gracie on the forehead. He switched on the baby monitor and pulled the door shut, walking slowly so that he wouldn`t run into Letty again.

Dom waited until he heard Brian walk out the kitchen door and onto the patio before hurriedly grabbing the towels he had been looking for in the laundry room adjacent to the guest room. His jaw was clenched as he fought the urge to find Brian and kill him for keeping her secret. Instead he walked as calmly as he could back to Letty`s house, ignoring everyone who tried to talk to him as he went past.

_South Pacific, 2011_

_Brian smiled at Mia as he passed her a bottle of water. She took a sip before bursting into tears and Brian cringed inwardly – he was positive it had been less than ten minutes since he had calmed her down from her last crying jag. He prayed inwardly that Gracie would stay sound asleep in her mother's arms. He wasn't sure he could handle both of them crying at once again._

"_Babe you've got to calm down or we need to go see the doctor. It's not healthy to be this upset all the time. Maybe you should think about trying the pills she told you about." He said gently, searching her face for something other than sadness._

_Mia shook her head wordlessly, glaring at Brian as she did._

"_She wouldn't recommend them if they weren't safe, Mia."_

"_I'm not depressed, Brian," she sobbed, frustrated. "I'm sad. Letty's supposed to be her aunt, she has always been supposed to be my child's aunt. And to make it worse, Dom won't even touch her. He and Letty spent so much time putting off having kids that he missed his chance to be a dad and he can't be around his own niece because of it. So instead he gets drunk and Elena is either in Rio alone or here cleaning up after him."_

"_So you're not upset about the baby," Brian sighed, nodding with newfound understanding. "You need your family."_

"_It doesn't matter. I have no way to get my family back."_

"_What about Rosa, I'm sure she'd come for a visit with Nico. Rome's annoying but he's family, we could call him." He suggested, sitting on the couch beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders._

"_Not the same." She pouted._

"_I know, but we can't fix the other family right now. So why not call some of the other family we've ended up with?"_

"_Fine," she conceded, leaning her head on his shoulder. "But we have to figure out what to do about my brother, too._

Maldives, present

"I have to tell you something," Brian blurted out. At his words Mia handed Gracie to Rosa and stood to face her husband. She frowned, confused, but let him lead her down the beach and away from everyone who was congregated on Leon & Anicka's large patio.

"Why aren't you talking, Brian?" Mia said when they were a hundred yards from the others. "Don't you have something to tell you?"

"I don't really know how," Brian admitted, avoiding her gaze. "I promised I wouldn't say anything."

"Then why are you telling me?"

"Because I can't not tell you. I should have told you a long time ago. Maybe I should have told Dom." He answered, stopping suddenly to sit in the sand and pulling her down next to him. "When Letty was working for the FBI, when we thought she had died? She might have been pregnant."

"Oh god, is that really it Brian?" Mia asked, smiling sympathetically and taking his hand. "I knew that. She was living with me the whole time. I might have missed the FBI part, but her being pregnant was impossible to miss. We never talked about it then and she hasn't said anything. If she still doesn't know that I knew, or at least suspected, it would be unfair for me to bring it up now. I assumed she lost the baby so I haven't said anything."

"Wait, seriously?" he asked, dumbfounded. "We've both known for almost three years and had no idea?"

"I guess," she shrugged. "Neither of us wanted to tell her secret. So how did you find out?" She smiled sadly as Brian told her the whole story, up to his conversation with Letty less than an hour earlier. When he finished she leaned her head on his shoulder and spoke softly. "I wish one of us had told Dom then. Maybe they'd be able to talk about it now."

"Or it could have made things a lot worse. She had enough reasons to be angry at him and he could have ended up even more depressed than he was. He would know he had lost someone else then too."

Mia opened her mouth to argue but stopped and stood instead. "It will come out eventually, I guarantee it."

Brian nodded before standing and wrapping his arm around her before they headed back towards the house.


	25. Chapter 25

Maldives, present

Letty went straight home after she spoke with Brian. She went around the back of the house, hoping to avoid speaking to anyone else. She was desperate for the solitude of her home. She knew that everything she had told Brian was true but she still felt as sick as she had the morning she had realized she wasn't pregnant.

She hopped over the railing of her back patio easily and let herself in the unlocked back door. Her bedroom was empty but smelled like the body wash that Dom used every morning. She flopped onto her bed, hoping that the comfort of her surroundings would help her drift off to sleep and away from the emotional start to her day.

Letty had barely closed her eyes when Dom walked into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. Letty opened her eyes slowly, raising her eyebrows questioningly when their eyes met.

"I was going to have a nap," she said, stretching to nudge him with her feet.

"Shitty." He replied, frowning. He had planned on having a reasonably civil conversation with her, knowing that any anger on his part risked driving her further away. The second he saw her, though, his reasonable intentions were clouded by hurt and anger. "I heard you and Brian talking this morning," he said quietly, never breaking eye contact.

Letty's eyes flashed for a second as she fought to retain control over her emotions. She started to speak but thought better of it, choosing instead to wait to hear if he had heard the entire conversation or just bits and pieces that she could explain away. She hoped it was the latter but knew by the expression on his face that it wasn't,

"We shouldn't be parents because we're 'fuck ups'?" he spoke softly, the hurt evident in his voice.

"You shouldn't have heard that, Dom."

"Oh so because you didn't know I could hear you it's okay for you to be glad that you lost a baby? **Our** baby?"

"Fuck you." She spat, sitting up and wrapping her arms around herself. "It was probably a false alarm. And even if it wasn't, not being pregnant is not something I'm fucking happy about. I wanted to be pregnant, Dom. I wanted a part of you that I could keep with me forever. Besides, I figured you would love a kid more than you loved me."

"What the hell does that even mean?"

"Forget it. You didn't love me enough to stay, you would have pulled the same disappearing act whether there was a baby or not."

"I get it, Letty. You're mad. You have every right to be. But this is fucking ridiculous. You don't get to turn this into another way that I'm a fucking asshole. You didn't tell me we could have had a baby. In a whole pile of my fuck ups, this one is yours. Deal with it."

Letty jumped up and tried to storm out of the room. She gasped when he reached out one arm to grab her around the waist and pull her down onto his lap, holding her there while she struggled. When she stopped he spoke, this time with sadness in his voice instead of anger.

"Why shouldn't we be parents? What's so bad about us? I love you, I always have. You know I would love our baby too."

"Seriously?" she whispered, letting her head drop to his chest so she wouldn't have to face him as she spoke. "We're career criminals, Dom. We fight all of the time, we are supposed to be in prison, and people try to kill us on a regular basis. We kill people."

"Brian and Mia have Gracie. They've done all of the shit we have. Do you think they shouldn't have had her?"

"Brian and Mia aren't criminals. He was a cop – by definition he's a pretty morally sound guy. Even when he's doing bad shit, he's still a good person. And Mia, she was just born into the wrong family."

"What does that even mean?"

"Mia's a good person. She would be driving a Volvo to soccer practise if it wasn't for us."

"Probably." He admitted, kissing her on the top of the head. "I still wish I had known, though. I fucked up by leaving, I know it. But it doesn't mean I don't love you. It means I'm an idiot."

"You are," she said with a sad smile. "But I love you, too."

"I know." He whispered. "And one day I'll deserve it."

_Czech Republic, 2010_

_Letty grimaced as she leaned her injured arm against the wall to steady herself. She was perched on the edge of the bathtub in her room in a rundown hotel. She kept her eyes trained on the pregnancy test sitting on the edge of the sink, cursing herself for buying the three minute test instead of the one minute brand. _

"_Come on," she muttered, absentmindedly placing her good hand over her stomach. "Longest three minutes of my fucking life."_

_Letty had made a deal with herself when she bought the test: if it was positive she would deal with her anger towards Dom and then go home. Mia would know where Dom was, no matter how many times she said that she didn't, and Letty was sure that a baby would convince Mia to give up that information. _

_When the timer on her cellphone went off she stood on shaky legs and walked the few short steps to the sink. She fumbled as she picked up the test, dropping it on the floor when she tried to flip it over to read it. Bracing herself against the sink, she swore under her breath as she struggled to lower herself to the floor. The limitations of her injured body infuriated her as she let herself fall to the floor, landing unceremoniously on her back. She grasped at the floor around her until her fingers closed around the hard plastic beside her head._

_Letty held the test over her eyes but, at the last minute, squeezed her eyes shut. Her fear over finding out the truth annoyed her. She wasn't supposed to be scared, she didn't do scared. But at that moment she was almost as terrified about the possibility of being pregnant as she was to find out that she wasn't. _

_It took a solid five minutes before she grumbled at herself to man up and face the truth, whatever it was. She opened her eyes slowly, taking a few seconds for her eyes to focus before she looked at the single pink line staring her in the face. Her heart sank as she realized that there was no reason for her to go home ever again. _

Maldives, present

It was a few days later when Letty was alone in her house, doing laundry and watching tv, that she heard a soft knock at her door. She smiled brightly when Leon let himself in and sat beside her on the couch.

"Been avoiding me?" he asked with a grin.

"Kinda," she admitted, wishing that she wasn't folding one of Dom's shirts as she said it.

"Thought so."

"You let me hate him for a long time. I feel like an asshole acting like it never happened, but I kind of have to if I want shit to work out with him."

"It's not like it's surprising," he said with a shrug. "Dom's, like, your kryptonite."

"My kryptonite, really?" she laughed. "Read something other than a comic book for a change."

"You're one to talk. Have you ever read a book, Let? Can you read?"

"Tell you what, you put something in alphabetical order without singing the alphabet song to yourself and then we'll talk."

"Are you sure?" he asked, the humour gone from his voice.

"About the alphabet song? Yeah, I've had that shit down since I was like five." She joked, frowning when she saw the look on his face. "He's trying, Le. He really is. Besides, I've loved him since I was a kid. One more try isn't gonna kill me."

"Uh…"

"Okay, bad choice of words," she said, flinching. "But really, he found me. He's trying so hard. I'm not gonna stay miserable just to spite him. I love him."

"I know you do. And I can't change that."

"What if you could?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"I can't watch this, Letty. I can't sit here and watch you fall back into his arms. I love you, and if I told you that I wouldn't come running the second you need me again I'd be lying. But I'm not going to wait for him to hurt you again, I can't. You need to leave. Both of you." He didn't look at her until he had finished speaking and when he did he hated himself for the shock and hurt he saw written on her face.

"Fine." She said, nodding. "We'll be gone by the end of the week – we'll leave with Brian and Mia."

Leon stood, avoiding her gaze as he walked quickly across the room and pulled open the door. He knew that if he looked at her again he would take it all back. Before he could change his mind he pulled the door shut behind him and hurried across the beach to his own front door.

_Fb - __L&L when dom's in prison. He admits to someone (Mia or Jesse?) that he loves her, they tell him if it wasn't for dom she would love him too._

_Los Angeles, 1995_

"_Could you please shut the fuck up!" Jesse hissed, throwing a pillow at Leon. They were on opposite sides of the basement, each on their own pull-out sofa bed. It was close to three in the morning and every time Jesse started to fall asleep Leon would sigh or huff or get out of bed and pace for a few minutes. _

"_Go to sleep, Jess," Leon replied, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders and crinkling the packaging of the box of Oreos that was on the pillow beside him._

"_I would love to! But you are the loudest fucking person I know."_

"_Fine, sorry, I'll be quieter. Go to sleep and leave me alone."_

"_Well I'm awake now." Jesse said, sitting up. "What's going on, why are you acting like a girl?"_

"_It's nothing. There's nothing wrong. I just can't sleep."_

"_Gotcha." Jesse nodded. "So are you going to talk to her?"_

"_Talk to who?"_

"_Mia. Tell her that spaghetti isn't really your favourite so that she'll stop making it every Tuesday. That's what the drama queen bit is about, right?"_

"_Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'll talk to Mia tomorrow."_

_Jesse stared at Leon, dumbfounded. "Letty, idiot. Wow, you seriously thought… wow. You're stupid. Are you going to talk to Letty?"_

"_What the hell am I supposed to say, Jesse? Tell her that I love her, that I want her to be with me instead of crying on my shoulder about him? That'll go well."_

"_Okay, so it's not perfect. But you're miserable, telling her would probably fix that."_

"_Or it would end our friendship and I wouldn't have her at all. No offense, Jess, but relationship advice from you might actually be worse than advice from Vince."_

"_Fine, then go tell Mia that you're in love with her brother's girlfriend and you two can have a heart to heart."_

"_She's not his girlfriend," Leon growled. _

"_She may as well be. Either man up and talk to her or figure out another way to deal with it because I need some sleep."_

_Leon just nodded, glaring at Jesse not because of what he said but because what he said was true._

"_She'd love you, too, if it wasn't for Dom." Jesse added quietly, laying back down and pulling the covers over his head. _

"_Shut up, man. We have to be at the shop in like four hours." Leon said to Jesse's already snoring form._


	26. Chapter 26

Maldives, present

Anicka stood in the doorway of Tomas' bedroom and watched Leon tuck him in for his nap. She smiled softly as Leon put away the stack of books they had read and readjusted Tomas' blankets before he put his arm around her and they walked back into their kitchen.

"Are they gone?" Leon asked, kissing the side of her head at the same time so that he was talking into her hair instead of looking at her.

"A few minutes ago," she told him, nodding. "Mia and Brian want us to come visit them next time. It might be fun – spend some time around civilization again?"

"Sure, baby, sounds great. It's been fun having people around."

"I'm going to miss her. She's the best friend I've had in a long time," Anicka said, turning to meet Leon's eyes.

"Me too." He agreed, knowing that they weren't talking about Mia anymore.

"When did you fall in love with her?" she asked softly. She flinched, afraid he would stop talking, when she heard him inhale sharply.

Leon was silent for a few seconds, wondering how much his wife had figured out, and then sighed before starting to speak. "The day I met her. She was sixteen." He laughed, remembering his shock when he finally met the girl Mia had been searching for since he moved in with the Torettos. She wasn't at all what he expected. She was stubborn and rude and admitted later that she hated him before she ever heard him speak. "She never saw me as anything but her friend, I don't think she ever even knew I liked her. Dom's all she has ever seen. But when she was seventeen Dom cheated on her. She was a miserable bitch for like eight months, getting in fights and sleeping with the guys that would piss him off the most, but we got close. When he went to prison, though, she changed. She was just sad, more like the way she was when you met her – she needed him to be whole, even if they hated each other."

"What about now?" Anicka whispered. "What about us?"

"She has Dom and I have you." He answered simply, taking her hand and playing with her wedding ring. "I'm here because I love you. That's not going to change."

"Good." Anicka let him pull her closer to him and rested her forehead against his chest. She sighed with relief with the knowledge that her life, and Tomas', wasn't going to change. Letty being gone was the best, and worst, thing to happen to their own little family.

_Czech Republic, 2006_

_Anicka twisted her new wedding ring, a simple gold band, off of her finger and hid it in the bottom of her purse. When she was sure her purse was hidden under her costumes and makeup bags she sat back down in front of a large vanity and dusted glitter over her arms and chest._

"_So? Does he know?" her friend Kalene asked, leaning over from her own makeup table to make sure that no one else could hear her._

"_Does who know what?" Anicka whispered back without meeting Kalene's eyes._

"_Leon," Kalene gestured to the barely visible curve of Anicka's stomach and raised her eyebrows knowingly. "You're pregnant, right? Does Leon know?"_

"_How the hell did you – " Anicka started, focusing on applying her fake eyelashes in the hope that her face wouldn't betray her thoughts. "I haven't told him yet, okay? So shut the hell up."_

"_Is it his?"_

"_What the fuck is that supposed to mean? He's my husband, of course it's his."_

"_Bullshit." Kalene said, grabbing Anicka's arm and forcing her friend to face her. "It's Kazimir's, isn't it? If he knows you're pregnant with his kid, he'll kill you."_

"_You think I don't fucking know that?" Anicka hissed, pulling her arm away. "It's fine, okay? Leon will be the kid's father, he has no idea about Kazimir. Leon thinks Kazimir's a scumbag but he never knew I was his girlfriend, especially not after Leon and I started dating. Besides, as soon as I married Leon last month Kazimir didn't want anything to do with me. He'll fire me when he finds out I'm pregnant and I won't have to deal with this shit anymore."_

"_Whatever you say, just be careful. Shit, I'm on," Kalene quickly tied on the apron from her French maid's outfit and grabbed a feather duster. Before she went through the dressing room door she turned back and held a finger up to her lips, silently promising Anicka that her secret was safe._

_As soon as Kalene was out of her sight Anicka breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out her cellphone, quickly tapping out a text message to Leon._

I have a surprise for you when I get home tonight – I love you.

_She smiled softly and slipped her phone back into her purse beside her wedding ring. Things are going to change, she promised herself as she changed into a nurse costume covered in sequins. Leon had saved her the first day he walked into the tiny strip club and he was going to save her baby without ever knowing it._

Sibenik (Croatia), a few weeks later

"Dom?" Letty called out, walking up the stairs of their largely unfurnished new house balancing two large boxes. She craned her neck to try and see above her cargo, smiling gratefully when Dom appeared in front of her and took the boxes out of her arms.

"More for the bedroom?" he asked, nodding for her to follow him. The bedroom was the only room that they had bought furniture for – shopping for furniture after spending weeks trying to find a house that they agreed on was exhausting so they had gotten only the necessities, agreeing that they would deal with the rest later. As long as they had somewhere to sleep and food to eat they could avoid actually decorating. Mia would take that job over when she and Brian arrived for a visit in a few weeks anyways.

"It's just more boots," she said, leaning against the doorframe and laughing when he rolled his eyes at the growing stack of her boxes on the floor of the walk-in closet. She frowned when he didn't make fun of her or threaten to throw her boot collection away. "What's up?" she asked, bracing herself for another fight. She was getting used to arguing with him about pretty much everything – they weren't walking on eggshells around each other anymore. Instead they seemed to be rehashing every issue they had ever had and she hoped they were going to run out of things to fight about soon.

"We can't keep fighting about the past, Letty," he said softly, moving to sit on their bed.

Letty raised her eyebrows, shaking her head at his apparent ability to read her mind.

"I get that you need to scream and yell and get everything off your chest – hell, I've been doing a good job of it the last while myself, so I guess I needed to too." He spoke quietly but quickly, trying to get everything out before she misinterpreted what he was saying and they ended up fighting again. "It's got to end sometime, though. You shouldn't be with me if you are upset or angry every time we talk. We're together but I feel like I'm hurting you just by being near you."

"So, what, you're leaving again? Are you fucking kidding me, Dom?" she interrupted, taking a step backwards as he jumped to his feet and grabbed her arms to keep her from walking away.

"Letty just listen to me. I'm not going anywhere; I'm not leaving unless you ask me to. And even then, I probably still won't," he smiled sheepishly before he continued. "I called Anicka and she sent me your doctor's contact information. He's flying out in the morning so we can go to counselling with someone who already knows everything. Don't be mad, okay? We need to fix stuff and we suck at doing it ourselves. I had to do something."

Letty opened her mouth to speak but stopped, standing on her toes to kiss him softly instead.

"Baby I'm sorry. Leaving you, taking away your right to decide what to do with your life? That was awful. But everything I've done since I've been back is worse and I know it." He told her, his voice gruff with emotion.

"Dom it's okay, we're going to be okay. I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe that."

He shook his head stubbornly. "No, we're not. I'm not. Every time I find out more details of what happened to you because I wasn't there I'm so angry at everyone who hurt you and at myself that I flip out and make everything worse. You don't deserve that." As he spoke he wrapped his arms around her and turned, guiding her backwards until her legs hit the edge of their bed. "Nothing that happened is your fault and I should have been telling you that every day since I found you."

Tears swam in her eyes when she looked up at him and smiled, the understanding that he wasn't going anywhere finally sinking in. The part of her that jumped every time she heard a door shut or threatened to break when she reached out in the middle of the night and he wasn't close enough for her to touch relaxed. She realized that for the first time since they were at home in Los Angeles she trusted that he would keep every promise that he made to her.

"Losing the baby - if there was a baby -" he added quickly, before she could protest, "wasn't anything you could control and wasn't something you wanted. I know that. If we get our baby one day it would be amazing. But whether or not it happens, I love you. I just want you."

"I thought if we had a baby you would love it differently than you love me," she whispered. "Even if you could leave me, I thought you wouldn't be able to leave our child. I knew we shouldn't have a baby just to fix things, but when I thought I was pregnant I was so sure that you wouldn't be able to leave us both."

"I left because I thought I was protecting you. I would have done it with or without a baby, Letty."

She nodded, saddened and relieved at the information.

"I did selfish things with good intentions. But I hurt you, and that's all that matters. I need you to believe that I don't want to hurt you anymore." he spoke softly, maintaining eye contact as he slid her t-shirt over her head and dropped light kisses along her collarbone. "I love you, baby. I'm going to be beside you until the day I die."

"No more waking up alone?" she asked, smiling despite the shakiness in her voice.

"Never." He confirmed, pressing his lips against hers.

She sighed into his kiss and allowed him to lift her up enough to lay her on the bed. When he hesitated she slid her hands under his shirt and ran her nails lightly along his abs before pulling it over his head and tossing it on the floor. "No more surprises, okay?" she said gently, looking up at him through heavy-lidded eyes. "I think I'm all out of secrets."

"Thank god." He said with a low laugh, dipping his head to kiss her before he lifted his head to study her face again. "Seriously, are you okay?"

"It's gotta go better than last time, right?" she answered, smirking despite herself when he grimaced at the memory. Before he could say anything she interrupted. "Stop talking, Dominic." She laughed while she unbuckled his belt and used it to pull him down on top of her.

"Yes, dear," he murmured into her neck.

_South Pacific, 2010_

"_Dom? Dom you need to get up." Elena said quietly, grimacing at the sight of him on the bathroom floor clutching an empty 26 of tequila._

"_Letty?" he croaked out, his eyes open but unfocused. _

"_Dom, please get up," Elena pleaded, kneeling beside him. She flinched when her knee hit a piece of broken glass and she shook her head, realizing it was probably his first bottle from the night before. She cursed herself for not checking the floor before going into the bathroom. He inevitably threw a bottle at something; she should have checked the floor for broken glass before walking in without shoes._

"_Fenix is gone, Lett. It's okay, he can't hurt you." Dom kept talking, slurring his words and looking past Elena at the same invisible figure he begged for forgiveness every day. _

"_Can you stand?" Elena asked, ignoring his words and putting her hand behind his head before helping him sit upright. "Let me help you get in bed – Brian's going to be here in a few hours, you should get some sleep."_

"_Remember your 21__st__ birthday?" he asked as he let Elena help him to his feet and lead him to the bed that she hadn't slept in for months. "When everyone else wanted to go clubbing because you were finally legal but you wanted to go to Disneyland? You made me go on those fucking teacups eight times in a row. Only time I've puked since I was fourteen."_

_Elena pulled a blanket over him and waited the few seconds it took for him to fall asleep again. "So much for that track record," she muttered as she walked back into the laundry room to re-wash the pile of clean clothes that he had thrown up on early that morning._

Croatia, six months later

"Positive." Letty whispered to herself. She was sitting on the floor of her and Dom's huge master bathroom, listening to him snore while she stared, dumbfounded, at the positive pregnancy test in her hands. She couldn't help but think back to the last time she had taken a pregnancy test and the overwhelming devastation she had felt when it was negative. She clutched the test and contemplated the difference a couple of years made, so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice that Dom's thundering snoring had stopped.

"Watcha got there?" Dom asked from the doorway, pulling her away from her thoughts and making her jump. When she didn't answer he crouched down beside her and gently took the plastic stick out of her hands.

Letty smiled nervously as she watched him inspect the piece of plastic in his hands for a few seconds before his eyes settled on the little window displaying a bright pink plus sign. "Plus sign," he murmured, tearing his eyes away from it to look at Letty. "Plus sign like… like positive? Like pregnant?"

"Like pregnant," she repeated, biting her lip as she studied his face.

"We're having a baby," he said in a monotone voice before his face lit up with a broad grin. He dropped to his knees and pulled her into his arms before repeating, excitedly, "We're having a baby. You and me. Seriously. We're having a baby."

Letty laughed despite the tears that were now pouring down her cheeks and kissed him. "Dom?" she said quietly, using her sleeve to wipe away her tears. "I can't do this without Leon."

"I know," he replied, squeezing her tighter. "And you won't have to. I promise."

* * *

><p>This story has been way too much fun to write and I am so grateful for all of the amazing feedback I have gotten. Shawnied777 and Str8bkchick, you have both been beyond amazing with your reviews and input on the story. I hope everyone is happy with the end but especially both of you.<p>

I **might** write an epilogue or a sequel but it really depends if my ideas for this story continuing turn into anything beyond some notes and partial chapters.

Thank you all so so so much for the amazing reviews, I really never thought my first fic would be so much fun to write.


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